Monday, March 18, 2013
Overall crime trending down in West Hyattsville, citywide, according to latest annual numbers.
Did news of this weekend's shooting in West Hyattsville make you think twice about living here? While other news stations were content to keep their coverage of Sunday's drive-by shooting on Hamilton Street to brief items, WTTG Fox 5 dug deep into their bag of metaphors and produced this breathless piece of journalism on the shooting which left two people injured. The anchor introduces the shooting, which saw 19 shots fired, as something which resembled the "wild west". Reporter Karen Gray Houston went on to say it was like something out of a movie. A bit hyperbolic? To be sure. One wonders if cinematic metaphors are appropriate to describe attempted murder. Close readers might also note that I have, in the past, referred to West …
Sunday, March 17, 2013
19 shots fired in early morning incident in Hyattsville.
Two people have been injured during an overnight drive-by shooting near the intersection of Queens Chapel Road and Hamilton Street in Hyattsville. The incident began around 2:55 a.m. at the nearby Shell Gas station. According to Sgt. Chris Purvis, public information officer for the Hyattsville City Police Department, two groups of friends in two cars were at the gas station when a small, dark colored four-door compact vehicle turned from Hamilton Street into the Shell parking lot. Then suddenly, shots rang out from, police believe, within the dark compact car before it sped off. Purvis said the most amazing aspect of the shooting was the fact that the shooter had to have driven past a nearby police officer on patrol. "Our guy was set up…
Monday, February 18, 2013
Watchful neighbor helps police catch suspected burglars red-handed.
The Hyattsville City Police Department is again crediting an alert neighbor with helping to catch two burglars red-handed over the weekend. "The West Hyattsville Neighborhood Watch strikes again," reads an email from Hyattsville police detective Cpl. Zach Nemser sent to city employees and shared with the West Hyattsville neighborhood listserv. The incident began on Saturday, Feb. 16, just before 1:30 p.m., when police responded to the 5600 block of 30th Avenue for a report of a burglary in progress. The burglary had been reported by a neighbor who watched two men enter a nearby residence through a side window. Once on the scene, police surrounded the house. Shortly afterward, one of the suspects, Gaithersburg resident Mark Anthony …
Sunday, January 20, 2013
See where the hotspots for assaults, robberies, and burglaries are in Hyattsville.
On Friday, we gave you a broad overview of Hyattsville's year in crime. The city marked another year of declining crime numbers, but a number of crime hotspots remain in the city. Now, we show you where two categories of those crimes happened. Data provided by the Hyattsville City Police Department has been turned into heat maps charting the geographic density of violent crime and burglaries in the city of Hyattsville. Violent Crimes The 3500 Block of East-West Highway is the most violent street in the city of Hyattsville, according to data released by the city police department. That block, home of the Mall at Prince George's and near the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station, saw 19 crimes against persons–12 assaults and seven …
Friday, January 18, 2013
Crime reductions continue multi-year trend, according to data from the Hyattsville City Police Department.
Continuing a six year trend, crime in Hyattsville saw another year of dramatic declines, according to data released by the Hyattsville City Police Department earlier this week. Hyattsville Police Chief Doug Holland attributed the declines to an effective police force and improved communication between the police department and the community. "We've made some gains with community involvement, getting the residents more involved with us and each other," said Holland in an interview. "We have some good, old fashioned police work going on. Our investigative staff has been working at a very high level. Last year saw crime dropped across every category except for three. The city saw increases in the number of rapes, assaults and arsons compared…
Monday, January 7, 2013
Woman robbed as she walks to West Hyattsville Metro Station.
Hyattsville city police are looking for suspects involved in a robbery which occurred over the weekend. On Saturday, Jan. 5, a woman was walking towards the West Hyattsville Metro Station through the field next to Kirkwood Apartments on Ager Road. As she was walking, an older model tan or gold colored SUV approached the woman from behind and stopped. A passenger exited the vehicle, brandished a black handgun and demanded the woman's purse. The victim complied with the demands made by the robber, at which point the suspect re-entered the car and drove away on Ager Road toward 23rd Avenue. Police describe the suspect as a black male, between 25-30 years of age, with short hair, standing about 6 feet tall, and wearing dark clothing. …
38.960831
-76.97107
Kirkwood Market
2721 Nicholson St, Hyattsville, MD
/articles/police-seek-robbery-suspects
468284
/locations/8542623
Friday, January 4, 2013
Property, including car, stolen from Hyattsville house while residents sleep.
Hyattsville city police officers are looking for suspects who burglarized a home overnight while its residents slept through the crime. According to a message from the city police sent to subscribers of Hyattsville's Nixle alert system, sometime between midnight and 5 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 4, a home was burglarized in the 5500 block of 43rd Avenue. The residents were home at the time of the burglary, but apparently slept peacefully as property was taken from their home in the night. According to Sgt. Susie Johnson, who oversees the HCPD criminal investigations division, police believe the burglars were able to gain entry to the house by prying open a back door. Once inside, the burglars stole a flatscreen television, a laptop computer, …
38.955123
-76.943208
5500 43rd Ave, Hyattsville, MD
Home burglarized as residents sleep inside.
/articles/residents-sleep-through-overnight-burglary
/locations/8524497
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Three robberies reported on Friday in Hyattsville.
In the wake of three separate robberies reported on Friday, Dec. 21 in Hyattsville, city police are cautioning residents to make keep alert when out and about. in an alert sent to subscribers of the city's Nixle account, The Hyattsville City Police Department distributed safety tips for residents to heed. The alert did not disclose any details about the robberies. At the time of this writing, CrimeReports.com noted only a single robbery with a gun which occurred in the 2900 block of Belcrest Center Drive near the Prince George's Plaza Metro Center at 11:17 a.m. on Dec. 21. Here are the safety tips sent out by city police: It can happen to anyone, at anytime, at anyplace! In the event a robber confronts you: After the robbery:
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Hyattsville Police Chief credits observant neighbor with helping police catch burglars as they tried to sell stolen TVs at local pawn shop.
Officers from the Hyattsville City Police Department, again with the help of an observant resident, were able to apprehend two suspected juvenile burglars as they tried to sell stolen property at a local pawn shop yesterday It all began Wednesday afternoon at 12:55 p.m. when police were dispatched to investigate two young men seen walking in the 5700 block of 29th Avenue in West Hyattsville carrying flat screen televisions. The report was called in by a West Hyattsville resident. Police responding to the scene were unable to locate the two in the area where they were spotted by the witness. They then investigated a pawn shop in the 3000 block of Hamilton Street where they encountered two juvenile boys, ages 14 and 17, attempting to sell …
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Police pursuing attempted burglary charges against two juveniles.
A watchful neighbor may have helped Hyattsville City Police Department officers thwart a burglary in West Hyattsville yesterday. As a result of the neighbor's actions, and a prompt police response, police are now pursuing attempted burglary charges against two juveniles, a boy and a girl. It all started around 10:45 a.m. in the 3100 block of Lancer Drive when another Lancer Drive resident saw a young woman walk up to his neighbor's house across the street and knock on the door. Shortly afterwards, a young man joined her on the porch. The duo knocked on the door a second time. Receiving no response, the two walked into the back yard of the house. Suspicious, the watchful neighbor then called police to report the activity. The duo were …
38.95933
-76.9643
3100 Lancer Dr, Hyattsville, MD
/articles/neighbor-helps-police-catch-would-be-burglars
/locations/8366714
Michael Theis
5:54 pm on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
I think we all realize that you don't like living here, Dan. But depopulation is not a viable strategy for addressing the multitude of woes of local government. While you may have the economic liberty to shortly relocate yourself, many, for a variety of reasons, are committed to living in the Hyattsville area and Prince George's County. So, I pose the question to you, like Jim did; what are your … more ›