Crime Thread

threeonefour · PostAug 29, 2012#24012012-08-29T18:40+00:00

I received a crime alert from WashU this morning. Apparently a 23 y/o female student was held up at knifepoint last night in the parking garage off Snow Way, and was asked by the attacker to drive to several ATMs to withdraw money. He exited the vehicle in the City of St. Louis, and the victim then drove to her apartment, also in the city, and called police.

In light of similar crimes, WUSTL Police is increasing patrols, according to the news alert.

gone corporate · PostAug 29, 2012#24022012-08-29T19:20+00:00

^More on that story from STLtoday.
As well, the article mentions an attempted rape of a 54y/o woman at the SLU parking garage last night...
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... f6878.html

Welcome back to school, students and lowlife predators.

threeonefour · PostAug 29, 2012#24032012-08-29T19:28+00:00

And, here's one more...

South City shooting gets ATF involved

This one hits close to home- literally- because it's blocks from where I live. No one was at my house when this occurred, so we all missed the chaos.

Unfortunately I didn't miss the comments sections on KSDK and STLtoday. Don't you know, they're Facebook-linked to create a "more civil environment". Who knew? Apparently one incident like this, and Holly Hills is now the hood.

I'm so glad that we have so many armchair experts on crime sitting at their computers in Dupo, Sparta, and Bonne Terre to tell us what's wrong with our city.

Hopefully the meth labs next door to these people won't blow up and knock the wheels off their houses.

I've paid more attention to this lately because I've been increasingly concerned about the amount of crime around here. But if I pack the moving van anytime soon, it'll be for a larger home in the same part of the city where I presently live.

gone corporate · PostAug 29, 2012#24042012-08-29T19:29+00:00

Details on South City earlier today:

Big ATF shootout today around the intersection of Grand and Carondelet Park. One suspect/perp dead, another injured. No SLPD or ATF reported injured. Reports include details of a vehicle pursuit, as well as word of the ATF being involved to serve a warrant on a suspect. Press conference soon.
Multiple shots fired.
Busy neighborhood near a high school.
11AM.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... f6878.html

And I don't know what's worse: the shooting above... or that scrap metal thieves are now stealing the doors off mausoleums at Calvary Cemetery.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... f6878.html

downtown2007 · PostAug 29, 2012#24052012-08-29T20:58+00:00

Wow the media really is going to scare the hell out of everyone. Take crime at face value until you have the whole story, which the media rarely reports.

olvidarte · PostAug 29, 2012#24062012-08-29T21:14+00:00

The media is RUNNING with this stuff.

I usually don't pay much attention to the crime stuff, but over the past 2 weeks we've been inundated with crime stories and even I, staunch city supporter that I am, am getting worried. It's crazy

It's almost as if they're reporting every single crime, big and small, to keep this whole thing going.

leeharveyawesome · PostAug 29, 2012#24072012-08-29T22:23+00:00

Scrap metal scum steal awesome doors off Calvary Cemetery mausoleum.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... f6878.html

Everyone at the scrap metal yard should be arrested. They are complicit in a crime on a daily basis. EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON. The destruction of irreplaceable architecture could be stopped tomorow. Outrage!

zink · PostAug 30, 2012#24082012-08-30T00:42+00:00

olvidarte wrote:The media is RUNNING with this stuff.

I usually don't pay much attention to the crime stuff, but over the past 2 weeks we've been inundated with crime stories and even I, staunch city supporter that I am, am getting worried. It's crazy

It's almost as if they're reporting every single crime, big and small, to keep this whole thing going.

I agree....however, will this result in long term changes that might be for the good? If not, seriously, Arnold might be my next destination.

downtown2007 · PostAug 30, 2012#24092012-08-30T01:01+00:00

Come on now, seriously?

ttricamo · PostAug 30, 2012#24102012-08-30T01:41+00:00

leeharveyawesome wrote:Scrap metal scum steal awesome doors off Calvary Cemetery mausoleum.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... f6878.html

Everyone at the scrap metal yard should be arrested. They are complicit in a crime on a daily basis. EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON. The destruction of irreplaceable architecture could be stopped tomorow. Outrage!

I use scrap metal guys pretty frequently. They're one of the most unique sub classes of laborers around. I've dealt with guys that are ordained ministers and I've dealt with guys living out of weekly rate motels. Truly a fascinating breed the scrap metal picker.

threeonefour · PostAug 30, 2012#24112012-08-30T04:38+00:00

downtown2007 wrote:Wow the media really is going to scare the hell out of everyone. Take crime at face value until you have the whole story, which the media rarely reports.

This.

And this...

Things do seem crazy around here these days. Even my wife is a bit more scared than I'd like for her to be. But we have to put these crimes into context and educate ourselves, because we cannot count on the media to tell the entire story. And we also have to look at this as an opportunity to build dialogue, and also, to get people to become more active stakeholders in their neighborhoods. There are blocks and neighborhoods where the relationships between residents, with the police, etc. are stronger than you'd find in many suburbs. And if you want to root out the criminal element, this is crucial.

I also think our city's justice system needs an overhaul, so the great work that the SLMPD does isn't completely in vain, but that's another rant for another day, I suppose.

leeharveyawesome · PostAug 30, 2012#24122012-08-30T14:29+00:00

ttricamo wrote:
leeharveyawesome wrote:Scrap metal scum steal awesome doors off Calvary Cemetery mausoleum.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... f6878.html

Everyone at the scrap metal yard should be arrested. They are complicit in a crime on a daily basis. EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON. The destruction of irreplaceable architecture could be stopped tomorow. Outrage!
I use scrap metal guys pretty frequently. They're one of the most unique sub classes of laborers around. I've dealt with guys that are ordained ministers and I've dealt with guys living out of weekly rate motels. Truly a fascinating breed the scrap metal picker.

I'm sure they are an interesting and hard-working bunch of fellows but the fact remains, they are knowingly accepting stolen items.

debaliviere · PostAug 30, 2012#24132012-08-30T17:32+00:00

threeonefour wrote:But we have to put these crimes into context and educate ourselves, because we cannot count on the media to tell the entire story.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like so many of the reporters I see on local TV news look like they're 15 years old. I'm guessing this is the result of cost-cutting measures at the stations. Reporters fresh out of J-school seem a lot more willing to sensationalize and a lot less likely to get the whole story, especially when considering they seem to have little knowledge of St. Louis and very little context to which they can apply it.

Sorry for the "get off my lawn" moment there.

PostAug 30, 2012#24142012-08-30T17:51+00:00

Is all hell breaking loose, or what?

ATTEMPTED ASSAULT AT SLU

Meanwhile, a woman attending a Phish concert Tuesday night at the Chaifetz Arena told St. Louis University campus security that a man tried to sexually assault her in a parking garage at the university.

The woman, 54, attended the concert with her boyfriend, but they became separated, the university said in a statement sent to faculty and students. She was waiting for her boyfriend at their SUV in the Compton/Olive garage about 11:50 p.m. when a man grabbed her. They struggled in the rear part of the SUV as the man tried to pull off her clothing, she told police.

The woman broke free and escaped out of the SUV, but the man again grabbed her and pulled at her clothes near the front of the vehicle, according to police. She screamed, and he ran off. Authorities did not have a detailed description of the man, and a camera in the garage was not operating at the time, according to a police report.

newstl2020 · PostAug 30, 2012#24152012-08-30T18:07+00:00

SLU has roughly a BILLION dollar endowment yet somehow cannot afford to have functioning security cameras around the campus? If I was a student, I would be outraged. Additionally, I am outraged as a citizen due to the fact that they profess to have to bulldoze entire streets in the name of safety while as the same time blatently disregarding simple measures such as this to help ensure the safety of students and visitors alike on their campus.

Alex Ihnen · PostAug 30, 2012#24162012-08-30T18:43+00:00

^ leaving the homes there and having, you know, people in the area creates a safer environment - a fountain or sculpture make for crappy eyewitnesses.

newstl2020 · PostAug 30, 2012#24172012-08-30T18:48+00:00

^The fountains are there to provide a reflection of the crime taking place, thereby instilling a deep seeded sense of guilt in the suspect causing him to leave his life of crime for one of repetence in the priesthood.

Alex Ihnen · PostAug 30, 2012#24182012-08-30T18:49+00:00

newstl2020 wrote:^The fountains are meant there to provide a reflection of the crime taking place, thereby instilling a deep seeded sense of guilt in the suspect causing him to leave his life of crime for one of repetence in the priesthood.

onecity · PostAug 30, 2012#24192012-08-30T20:50+00:00

they profess to have to bulldoze entire streets in the name of safety

So this is what has always struck me as super odd about the area around SLU. As someone who attended university in a town with its attendant "student ghetto," had friends who attended university in other towns with significant "student ghettos" bordering the U's, and having lived in a big city with a major U and surrounding it...."student ghetto," it is positively Weird that there aren't a bunch of ratty old houses filled to the brim with broke college students in the surrounding 15 blocks or so. Granted I don't spend a lot of time there, but the area around SLU should be 10x as vibrant as it is. With 13k enrollment there should be like a square mile populated with nothing but SLU students, the businesses serving them, and the people running those businesses to the north of campus. Did SLU really bulldoze everything for "safety?"

mattonarsenal · PostAug 30, 2012#24202012-08-30T22:17+00:00

Also explains why a friend of the family, a new freshman at SLU from Crawfordsville, IN is calling home kind of freaked out. Nice way to start your college career getting a string of emails from campus security in your inbox.

Alex Ihnen · PostAug 30, 2012#24212012-08-30T22:42+00:00

^ to be fair, anyone from Crawfordsville is likely to be freaked out for a bit when coming to St. Louis!

mattonarsenal · PostAug 31, 2012#24222012-08-31T17:42+00:00

^ True, because I am kinda freaked out when we go to Crawfordsville.

ImprovSTL · PostSep 02, 2012#24232012-09-02T04:00+00:00

Seems like we just need torrential rain and the murders go away.

gone corporate · PostSep 03, 2012#24242012-09-03T19:12+00:00

ImprovSTL wrote:Seems like we just need torrential rain and the murders go away.

If only... 3 shootings within the last 24 hours.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... 0f31a.html

Then again, maybe that's not so bad for a 3-day weekend. We always see car crash reports this time of year, with horrible statistics like "30 killed on US highways nationwide", and just sort of nod off, take it for granted, and say that's what happens on Labor Day weekends.

I wonder, could there be a calendar or almanac put together for crimes within the City? Do crimes spike at certain times of year, and are these patterns repeatable & predictable? I'm sure STL's Finest have this data; does this also exist openly online?

Alex Ihnen · PostSep 04, 2012#24252012-09-04T16:04+00:00

^ that would be interesting - it's often repeated that bad weather means less crime, it would seem to make sense

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