Dear Neighbors,
I am changing the District 5 Report format. The plan is to provide you with more frequent but smaller and more focused reports on local activities, crime and government actions that might impact your families, homes and neighborhoods. The focus of the April 2018 report is on criminal activity. Residents and homeowner associations are encouraged to share the information with others within their communities. For those who do not receive the report, I will gladly add you to the distribution list upon request to either tgshep@cox.net or shepperd@yorkcounty.gov. Please include your name and address in the request. * Comments and questions are always welcome. You can reach me at the phone numbers and email addresses listed below my name.
I greatly appreciate your help in disseminating the report to other residents of our communities.
Sincerely,
Tom Shepperd
York County Board of Supervisors
Home (757) 868-8591
Mobile (757) 903-1875
-----------------------------------------------------April 2018 District 5 Report------------------------------------------------------
Part 1 – Summary of Crime Reporting by the Sheriff’s Office
Part 2 – Report from the Commonwealth Attorney
Part 1 Summary of Crime Reporting by the Sheriff’s Office
1. In the past, residents have been hesitant to dial 911 fearing that their call did not rise to the level of a “real emergency.” This hesitancy leads to unnecessary delays. The Sheriff’s Office now wants you to call 911 at any time for any reason. The County’s highly trained 911 staff can quickly determine if your call warrants an emergency response. If not, the dispatcher will transfer your call to the appropriate agency. Please do not hesitate to dial 911.
2. The predominate crime in our area is larceny from a motor vehicle. Larceny from a motor vehicle is different than tampering. Larceny involves the stealing of items from the vehicle. Tampering simply involves unauthorized entry. Over the past three months, we have seen a lot of these activities, which quite often run hand in hand. For example, thieves will go from one residence to another late at night rifling through vehicles. They may hit five or six homes in a row before moving to another area. Depending on how the event is reported to law enforcement will dictate if the event is a larceny or tampering. By the way, as I have reported in the past, many of these larcenies are gang related. Here is a summary of larcenies, burglaries, and robberies over the past four months:
a. The Exxon station on Big Bethel Road was robbed in January. The case is still open. I did inquire about the poor quality of the security camera pictures circulated by the Sheriff when asking for the public’s help. I sometimes find it very difficult to distinguish important details. The Sheriff’s representative said that what you see is what they receive from the victim’s security system and despite the poor quality, the pictures are useful in solving a crime.
b. Cars in the Belmont Apartments were hit twice by thieves. Three larcenies took place in December in which credit cards and jewelry were taken. Four larcenies and eight tampering events occurred in February. In all cases, the vehicles were left unlocked.
c. Cars in the Victory YMCA parking lot were damaged back in January when thieves broke out windows to get to exposed items, such as wallets, purses and credit cards. This was really unusual because it occurred in broad daylight. The Sheriff’s Office tells me that thieves are now targeting vehicles in the parking lots of schools, gyms, and day care centers. The thieves sit and watch drivers, especially those with kids, run into a building leaving valuables such as purses and computers laying on the car seat. The thieves simply open the door and steal the item then drive off. The action happens so quickly that no one notices.
d. In March, thieves hit cars along the Calthrop Neck Road area. There were ten reported tampering and larcenies reported on Shirley Drive, one on Lambs Creek, two on Chinquapin Orchard in the Olde Port Cove neighborhood and one on Pickett Place. In an interesting twist of fate, three individuals (two adults, one juvenile) were arrested for larceny of a vehicle on Chippokes Turn in the Running Man neighborhood. They had stolen a credit card. Deputies were called to the scene and found a suspicious vehicle nearby. They detained the three people in the car, and found not only the credit card from the Chippokes Turn vehicle but also property that was stolen from the vehicle on Lambs Creek. I suspect these three had something to do with many of the larcenies in the area.
e. There were seven reported County-wide residential burglaries this quarter, only one of which occurred in District 5:
(1) The burglary on Choisy Crescent near the Washington Square Mall occurred when a thief entered through an unlocked back door. Items taken included a TV and laptop. The case is still open.
(2) The burglary on Lewis Drive off of Dare Road was cleared by arrest. There was another reported burglary off of Dare Road on Piccadilly Loop. In this case there was no forced entry and nothing was taken. The owner could tell that someone had been in the house because some of the furniture had been moved.
(3) The burglary on Old Williamsburg Road in the Lackey neighborhood was cleared by arrest.
(4) The burglary on Jackson Circle in the Meadowlake Farms neighborhood (District 5) has been closed out. The burglar entered through a garage. The owner saw someone in the house. The perpetrator ran out of the house. Nothing was taken.
(5) A breaking and entering was reported on Sir John Way in Seaford when the resident discovered the house door lock was messed up. Nothing was taken because the thief never got into the house.
3. A resident reported that she was accosted by a rather large imposing man while returning to her car in the COSTCO parking lot in Newport News. Evidently, the individual was sitting in a car nearby scoping out what he believed to be an easy target to hit up for money. The man was rather insistent but the lady held her ground and the man left. The problem now is that the lady and her husband are concerned for her safety in the parking lot. The husband called the store manager who seemed unconcerned and most likely did not take action. I discussed this situation with the Sheriff’s Office and was told that in nearly all retail settings the store manager is not allowed to confront an individual. Even loss prevention employees are very limited in what they can do with people suspected of shoplifting. In many cases, stores have a no touch policy. So, what is an individual to do? The Sheriff’s Office recommends calling law enforcement at 911. Do not feel embarrassed to report an incident, especially one that is making you uncomfortable. Just dial 911.
Part 2 - Report from the Commonwealth Attorney
1. I invited Ben Hahn, Commonwealth Attorney, to report on a few cases that might be of interest to residents in our area. It is important that we not only know that a crime has occurred but have confidence that the judicial system will take appropriate action in defending our community.
a. Shannon Martin - On July 24, 2016, Shannon Martin and a co-defendant (Eliaba) burglarized the Wendy's close to Harwood Mill Reservoir on Geo. Washington Mem Hwy at closing time by throwing a brick through the door, entered brandishing pistols and put the employees in a cooler. A juvenile third co-defendant waited in a car as the getaway driver. Fortunately, a Deputy Sheriff was in the vicinity and stopped the vehicle shortly after it left the flyover from Rt. 17 onto Route 134. Eliaba fled and was not apprehended at the scene but both Martin and the juvenile were caught in the vehicle. After some time, we convinced the juvenile's attorney to have his client cooperate with the Commonwealth and he gave a full confession and identified Eliaba as the second person who had entered the business. Martin pled guilty to Burglary while Armed with a Deadly Weapon, Robbery, Conspiracy to Commit Robbery, Use of a Firearm in the Commission of Robbery and Wearing a Mask in Public. The plea agreement provided that the Commonwealth and the defense would argue disposition but the sentence would be left to the Court.
The judge sentenced Martin to serve 43 years in prison. All but 7 years of that prison sentence was suspended. Martin was 18 years old at the time he committed the crimes. Eliaba has been convicted of the same crimes as Martin. Eliaba will be sentenced on April 26th. The juvenile will be sentenced after Eliaba's case is ended.
b. Dylan Wright and Rachel Walters - Wright and Walters were each convicted of Concealing a Dead Body. Wright and Walters were using heroin at a residence on Theater Road with another individual. The other individual died of an overdose. Wright and Walters moved the deceased remains down the road to a wooded area. Both Wright and Walters pled guilty to the crime with each side arguing to the Court what should be an appropriate punishment. The Court sentenced Rachael Walters to serve 5 years in prison. Three years and 6 months of Walter's imprisonment was suspended for 10 years. Dylan Wright was also sentenced to serve 5 years imprisonment. Four years of Wright's sentence was suspended for 10 years.
c. Josel Lewis - Lewis was a 17 year old juvenile when he fired a couple of shots into a vehicle at the Taco Bell on Geo. Washington Mem. Hwy. during what we believe was an encounter involving distribution of marijuana. The Commonwealth moved to have the juvenile tried as an adult. He was convicted and was sentenced by the Court to serve 10 years in prison for Shooting into an Occupied Vehicle and 10 years for Attempted Malicious Wounding. All but 3 years of the 20 year sentence was suspended for 20 years.
* Homeowner Associations are encouraged to use portions of this report in preparing their association newsletters. Comments and opinions expressed in the District 5 Report do not necessarily represent the position of the other members of the York County Board of Supervisors. All email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and to the Virginia Public Records Act, which may result in monitoring and disclosure to third parties, including law enforcement.
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