Dear PoPville

Photo by PoPville flickr user Randall Myers

Readers reports:

“$20 for two $10s scam guy is back…or maybe he never went away. Spotted harassing folks at 15th and M this morning.”

and

“I’ve heard from several of my neighbors in the H Street area that “Neighbor Bruce” is back and coming to folks houses with a scam story about needing metro money and being locked out of his house. He is a white male, mid 50s, around 6′ tall, dressed in a full suit and tie.”

Ed. Note: He also goes by Gene

and

“Just want to give people a heads-up on this guy scamming people in the NoMa/Eckington neighborhood. It happened to me a few weeks ago, and this weekend I learned something similar by the same guy happened to one of my close friends. Considering the odds of that, I assume it has happened before and will happen to others.

Based on NC/VA/MD records, the guy in question is a convicted felon with priors in NC for felony B&E, robbery, assault on a police officer, plus numerous other petty larceny/obtaining money under false pretenses/drug possession charges, so that (combined with some things he said) gives me some reason to worry that he just might be involved in something beyond scamming gullible young professionals in the NoMa area.

On a Tuesday night a few weeks ago, a guy who looked to be anywhere from his late 20’s to mid-30’s stopped me outside of the NoMa metro station asking for a tank of gas to drive to North Carolina. He told me that his dad had just suffered a heart attack and his 14-year old brother was alone with him at a hospital in Durham. He said he didn’t have any money in his bank account to cover the gas, and it was right before the end of the month, so I thought that was plausible. I told him to meet me at a gas station on the corner of New York Ave and P St. NE. When I got there, he was standing outside his car waiting for me. (more…)

Photo by PoPville flickr user Rob Cannon

“Dear PoPville,

I recently submitted an application to Home Alone Feline Rescue to adopt an adult cat. On the application they asked the reason for wanting a cat, to which I innocently replied “to be a mouser” (because I live in hill east, and you known, we have lots of rodent issues here). They rejected my application on the grounds that “We do not place any of our cats to be mousers.” Wtf?! I’m no animal expert but isn’t that what cats like to do? And is the only “good” reason for adopting a cat “to hang out with me Friday nights while I stuff my face with Chunky Monkey and watch bad Lifetime movies?” And is there such a demand for adult cats in DC that this poor kitty Donny will get snapped up by someone from from the anti-mousing cat lover constituency? Can anyone shed some light on this please?”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Thomas Dooley

“Dear PoPville,

Since we are transitioning from Summer to Fall/Winter, I’ve done a fair bit of spring cleaning meaning I have stacks and stacks of clothes to donate. I don’t have a car but I guess I could Uber the clothes somewhere. However, is there a “goodwill” service that will come pick up donations? If not, where should I be donating my old clothes to? Something that’s not a scam like red cross. All thoughts and recs welcome!”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric P.

“Dear PoPville,

I wanted to share a frustrating DC DMV incident and see if the good people of PoPville have any suggestions or faced similar situations.

I just moved into the District from Maryland and took a day off work to go to the DC DMV and switch over my drivers license and vehicle registrations as many new DC residents reluctantly do. To my surprise, I was informed that my DC driving privilege was “pending suspension.” This was due to a 2009 DUI incident in SE DC, for which I was ordered not to drive for 10 months, in addition to serving one week in DC jail (not fun), 18 months of supervised probation, 120 hours of community service, substance abuse treatment program, mothers against drunk driving sessions, fines, and 6 months of ignition interlock system in my vehicle. I looked up my driving record and sure enough I was listed as suspended from 2009 to comically December 31, 9999. I fully acknowledge that I did a bad, stupid thing as a 21 year old idiot, but I was shocked that my driving privilege was still suspended seven years after the fact.

The DMV told me to schedule a DC license reinstatement hearing to clear up the matter, so I went prepared with documentation to show that my drivers license had been reinstated after fulfilling the necessary requirements in Maryland. The hearing examiner was extremely rude and condescending and flat out refused to even look at the documents. She had already made up her mind that I would be required to serve a 6 month driving revocation within the DC limits starting that day. I work in a metro inaccessible area of PG County and I need to drive to get to work, so not being able to drive to and from my home for 6 months is a problem. The hearing examiner told me that “I can drive around Maryland all I want” but I could not drive in the district. (more…)

“Dear PoPville,

I want to share something that happened to me and my friends this weekend.

“I successfully buy tickets off of craigslist all the time for shows at 9:30, U street music hall, Echostage, and sometimes, big budget shows at the Verizon Center. I will never do the last one again.

There is an organized system of ticket scammers for the biggest shows that come into town. I know many will read this and say “duh!” but I feel strongly in sharing this story so others do not repeat my mistake.

I bought 4 tickets to the Adele concert on Sunday off of a craigslist ad that was not supported by a third party scalper or any sort of buisness. Instead it was written earnestly, in the same way I would write an ad, with an above face-value price for four floor tickets. I went back and forth with the seller and settled on a price. I also asked the seller to send me a photo of the tickets, which he did. Also, in all the email exchanges, his messages were signed off with the “sent by an iphone” message.

The seller then asked for my phone number to meet, which I gave. He then offered to drop the price some more if I wanted an additional ticket. I said yes. Red flag, I know. At this point, I was buying four tickets at face value. I did notice that when he texted me from his 304 number that the text bubbles were green (suddenly not an Iphone user?). I asked if I could Venmo, he said cash only. (more…)

“Dear PoPville,

I have a large collection of CDs, most of which have neither cases nor booklets. I can no longer play them as I don’t have a cd player or stereo. I would like to give them to someone or some place that can use and enjoy them. Do you know of anywhere I could donate them in the DC area, or alternatively, what to do with them? There is music from many genres.”

“Dear PoPville,

What’s the criteria for an alert to be sent through AlertDC? I live at 18th and D NE and there were 5-7 shots fired around 7:30PM tonight. Police were on the scene and were clearly aware, though there was no alert. This is a busy time and place where there are often children out playing, people out and walking around, etc. so I was surprised when no alert came through. Why are some crimes alerted and not others?”

In my experience regarding shots fired, MPD and AlertDC will only issue an alert if a person is hit by a bullet. Occasionally they may issue an alert if there is property damage although that seems to be prompted by resident requests. Regarding guns (or knives) another time alerts are issued by MPD or Alert DC is when an armed robbery or carjacking occurs. For example from last night:

ROBBERY HOLD UP GUN at 2120 hrs in the UNIT block of ADAMS NW street . Lookout for
LOF 2 B/M BOTH WEARING ALL BLAC https://t.co/MeUfMgzty4

— AlertDC.io (@AlertDCio) October 7, 2016