From a reliable birdie…

Don’t know if this is blog worthy, but maybe something to share with friends to see if we can get the word out.  The news stations are reporting “a string” of car thefts around town this weekend.  The police spokesperson didn’t seem to give them an accurate picture of what happened.  Cars were vandalized and stolen along Park Street and into the Greenbriar neighborhood.  FIFTY would be a conservative estimate of the number of cars damaged. I have heard a few numbers, all higher than that.

Related links:

http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=10569999
http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/news/headlines/48736147.html

[looking for pictures, please send to gossip@cvillain.com]

For those of you who dont think mapping out the addresses of convicted sex offenders in your area is enough ( http://sex-offender.vsp.virginia.gov/sor/ <- for those of you who haven’t already ) I present you with crime analysis of Albemarle County based on the 500 (reported) crimes committed between January 1st and May 11th.

The vast majority of these crimes were theft crimes, making any analysis of the types of crimes committed pretty irrelevant. The focus here is location. Find yourself … or, find your crime if you are a villain in every sense of the word.

I hope this has helped cure the insomnia of the worried… Unless you live on East Rio road in which case you should probably move… Enjoy

From the City…

At approximately 04:09am on Sunday June 7th , 2009 Charlottesville Police responded to the 700 block of Prospect Ave for a report of shots fired in the area. Upon arrival, officers discovered that several shots had indeed been fired and that several stray rounds struck at least two apartments and one vehicle. One of those rounds that  entered a residence through the exterior wall of a bedroom struck a 14 year old juvenile while asleep in bed. The victim was transported to the University of Virginia Hospital with non-life threatening injuries and is now listed as being in stable condition.
Charlottesville Police are still investigating this incident and request anyone with information to contact Detective Jim Mooney at 434-970-3374 or Crimestoppers at 434-977-4000.

Scott Shenk wrote a sweet article in the Daily Progress about how, in the 80s, Charlottesville was a booming town for the crack-cocaine business.  Drug dealers named the town “Sweet Town” because that implies that business was good.  Scott explains

By 1988, drug gangs had infiltrated the city. Open-air drug markets were running all hours — dealers and users crowded street corners and front yards alike, as crack was sold with impunity.

Was Charlottesville a banana republic of crack?  Sure sounds like it.  In the late 70s and early 80s, the police didn’t care about drugs.  When they witnessed an increasing amount of crime associated with drugs, that’s when their priorities changed.  The now-sheriff of Albemarle County, Chip Harding, led the charge to shut down the area drug rings.  The article mentions that even high profile UVA students were implicated (am not sure about this, but I believe Sigma Nu [another?] was once raided by the FBI for being one of the largest cocaine dealers on the East Coast).

Make sure you read the article.  It might change your views of Charlottesville.

Today, we’ve outsourced the cocaine production to Mexican cartels and still admit to powdering our nose.

[pic from hober]

The Charlottesville Police Department is seeking assistance in identifying three suspects in recent incidents in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area.

On December 29th, 2008, a guest at the Days Inn, 1600 Emmet Street, reported two males entered their room and told them they needed to check the heating system to make sure it was working properly. While one pretended to check a vent, the other took the guest’s purse containing cash and credit cards. The cards were then subsequently used at area businesses where surveillance video was obtained.

On January 6th, 2009, a guest at the Econo Lodge, 400 Emmet Street, reported two males entered their room and told them they needed to check the heating system to make sure it was working properly. After pretending to check the heating system they began to leave the room. One of the suspects then brutally attacked the guest, striking him over the head and stealing his wallet from his person. Credit cards from that wallet were then used at area businesses and surveillance video was again obtained.

On February 25th, 2009, a Charlottesville resident was walking to their car, parked in a lot near the downtown mall, when a black male engaged them in conversation. The black male then suddenly grabbed her purse and knocked the victim to the ground. Credit cards from the theft were then used at area businesses. Surveillance video was obtained and confirmed the suspects using the cards were the same from the two previous cases.

Surveillance video has revealed the suspects are a heavy set white female, a medium build black male wearing black framed glasses and a second black male who in one video is wearing a stocking hat with a Washington redskins logo.
If anyone has information about this case or can identify any of the suspects please contact Detective Jim Mooney @ 434-970-3374 or Crimestoppers @ 434-977-4000.

Video after break…
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The skinny:  2008 saw essentially the same amount of overall violent and property crimes as 2008.  Violent crime was down slightly by 11%, but Charlottesville saw 5 murders in 2008 as opposed to 3 in 2007.  While the data is hard to really analyze, we highlight the following key changes from the 2007 to 2008 Charlottesville crime statistics:

• burglary and breaking and entering decreased 30%, from 273 to 191 incidents
• vehicle theft increased from 163 to 191 incidents or an increase of 19%
• theft from building increased 17%, from 163 to 191 incident

One wonders if the economic crisis will increase crime in 2009.  Full statistics are after the break…

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We always talk about the downtown mall as this end-all be-all hotspot of Charlottesville.  At no point do I remember anyone saying it was the go-to place for drugs!  We touched briefly on our cocaine habit, but we couldn’t pinpoint a location for that.  We weren’t quite sure how Sexshuns owner, Reynold George Samuels, FBI raid this past February would turn out, but he recently pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute a controlled substance (marijuana and crack) and copyright infringement (fake DVDs, I swear I am not making this up). The Daily Progress reports:

Authorities have described Samuels as the head of the drug operation, organizing shipments of marijuana from New York that others distributed locally. According to a news release, Samuels admitted in Charlottesville’s federal court on Monday that the conspiracy distributed more than 3,000 kilograms of marijuana and more than 50 grams of crack in the region under his watch. He also said in court that he sold several pirated videos to undercover law enforcement officers last winter, the release noted.

Since Reynold is out of the picture, I think its very important we fill his previous position ASAP.  Check out the job description below:

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We’ve had a lot of people report in about our original comment from Stanley about gunshots on Bolling Ave between 6th and Avon at about 1:30AM on Sunday Morning. Is this just another neighborhood emptying of rounds, was it related to the shooting on the corner, or are there more details we need to know? We don’t have any reported injuries.

Tuffy, Stanley and Clarice want to know.

If you know anything, let us know in the comments.

P.S. If you want police reports you need to contact the Charlottesville police department. They should put you on the email list.

We learned from our commenters about a shooting that happened over the weekend. We didn’t know details until Chalottesville put out the official release which explained that one person had been shot and killed and three injured on Saturday at midnight outside of Pacino’s Deli on the Corner.  Today, we learn that Darryl Andre Johnson (pictured above), who had previously been a fugitive, has voluntarily turned himself into police.

[via NBC 29]

We have just been forwarded the press release about the weekend shooting brought up in this post.  Sadly, there was another homicide, this time at midnight on the Corner outside of Pacino’s deli.

Here is the press release:

On Saturday Morning, October 12, 2008, at approximately 0020 hours, Charlottesville Police officers responded to a report of a shooting at 1329 West Main Street in Charlottesville. Upon their arrival, they discovered the body of 22 year old Phillip E. Adams, Jr., of Charlottesville, lying on the sidewalk adjacent to that location with an apparent gun shot wound to the chest area. Mr. Adams was transported to the UVA Medical Center where he died a short time later.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that Mr. Adams was attending a private party on the second floor of Pacino’s Deli, located at 1329 West Main Street, when he became involved in a confrontation with a subject later identified as Darryl Andre Johnson. During the course of the confrontation, Johnson is reported to have shot Adams and then subsequently fled the scene.

Johnson is described as black male, medium complexion, 20 years of age, 5-8, and 140 pounds.

Three other persons who were attending the party were also injured, but their injuries are not life threatening. Detectives are not releasing the names of those individuals at this point in their investigation.

Warrants have been obtained charging Johnson with Murder, Use of a Firearm in the commission of a Murder, Malicious Wounding, and Use of a Firearm in the commission of a Malicious Wounding.

Click to Download the Wanted Poster with Picture of Johnson

Anyone having ANY information regarding this incident or the whereabouts of Johnson is urged to contact CRIMESTOPPERS at 434-977-4000, or Detective James Mooney at 434-970-3374.

1PM… More updates from Charlottesville police chief Tim Longo after the break…

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