Aug 14, 2008 7:06 pm US/Eastern
Blaring Alarms, Broken Glass The Norm In DUMBO
Residents Of Brooklyn Neighborhood Have Had Enough
CBS 2's Carolyn Costello
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
-
-
People in the neighborhood are so fed up, they've started spray painting messages on a neighborhood wall trying to rally the community together and catch whoever is busting windows. One message pleads with the NYPD to do something.
CBS
Police are hoping an arrest they made this week will put an end to the high number of car break-ins in DUMBO.
The parking spots are marked by piles of shattered glass, where one car after the next was broken into overnight.
"[It happened to me] three times in the last month," resident Marc Linial said.
Families walking dogs and pushing strollers during the day say their neighborhood becomes a playground for vandals every night. Residents often awake to smashed windows, but rarely is anything stolen from the cars.
"The window was smashed and two dollars in coins was taken out of the car," another resident said. "That was all they stole."
"There's been over 20 incidents in our building alone. I'm telling you, it's like every night you come out here, you know a car got hit," Linial said. "It's just [a matter of] whose car is it gonna be. It's gotten a little ridiculous."
Neighbors in DUMBO have gotten so fed up, they started spray painting messages on a nearby wall, trying to rally the community to come together to catch whoever is busting windows. They even plead with the NYPD to do something.
"Some people haven't been reporting the crime, so NYPD doesn't know the scope of the problem," Todd Turner said. "They will shortly."
Some folks say it's only a minor problem, and they'll deal with it.
Others say it's go to stop.
"There's been sort of an influx," James Gregson said. "My girlfriend was mugged just there."
If it doesn't stop, criminals will get more brazen, and the crimes will only get worse.
The police commissioner's office says they've arrested a suspect recently and charged him with 11 of the break-ins. They say he has 46 prior arrests.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
2009 Celebrity Deaths
Click to enlarge
Woman, Teen Son Found Dead In Closet At NYC Home
Stumble It!
Comments