Thursday, June 28, 2012
Mapping crime in Hyattsville between June 17 and June 23, 2012.
After far too long an absence, the Hyattsville Crime Map returns this week with reports of a disturbing robbery and an incident of indecent exposure, among others. The robbery occurred this past Friday, June 22 at the Mall at Prince George's when a taxi cab driver picked up two fares at about 11:45 a.m. The suspects then threatened to harm the cab driver's family if he didn't give them cash. The cab driver was then forced to withdraw money from his bank account before dropping off the suspects at the First United Methodist Church on Belcrest Road. The suspects fled in an unknown direction. Police did not provide a description of the two suspects in the crime report. Three days earlier, on June 19, police responded to a call from the …
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Who among Hyattsville's city employees has the biggest gullet? The police department, that's who.
Raising money for the Special Olympics of Prince George's County, the Hyattsville City Police Department, the Hyattsville Public Works Department and the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department held a three team contest to scarf down as much hamburger as they could. The Hyattsville Police Department ended up winning the event, posting a combined time of just over 19 minutes to consume just about 90 hamburger patties, six hamburger buns and three baskets of fries. Ladies and gentlemen, charity has never looked this refined. Enjoy the photos, taken by yours truly as well as Hyattsville Communications Director and Acting Director of Recreation and Arts Abby Sandel. This is a contribution article, which means if you took photos yesterday, you…
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Charity eating competition pits city police, fire and public works in a race to eat massive burger.
In a city that boasts a world within walking distance, maybe we can excuse the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department, and the city police and public works departments for participating in an eating competition, fundraiser and publicity stunt slated for 3 p.m. today. That's when they'll be gathering in Hyattsville's Elevation Burger to face off in a three-way race to see which team can scarf down a 10-patty hamburger in the shortest amount of time. No word yet on if there'll be a biggest-loser style competition to walk the calories off through Hyattsville's historic and oh so trendy mixed use neighborhoods. So that's where the eating competition comes in. There's even a trophy up for grabs, the inaugural Vertigo Cup. But it's also a …
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Hyattsville man arrested in connection with January rape.
A Hyattsville man was arrested on Saturday and charged in connection with two sexual assaults, one in Mount Rainier, the other in Hyattsville. Police are now investigating to see if the suspect could be connected with a string of four other rapes and sexual assaults in the area. 24-year old Edwin Xavier Rivas was arrested without incident in the 3100 block of Hamilton Street in Hyattsville. Rivas, a resident of the 6100 block of 39th Place in Hyattsville, was arrested by officers with Prince George's County Police Department's Sexual Assault Unit. He was charged in connection to a rape which occurred on Jan. 28 in Mount Rainier. According to the Mount Rainier Police Chief's blog, police responded to the 3300 block of Buchannan Street at…
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
A recently discovered discrepancy between budget measures grinds budget approval to a halt while opening up debate about police staffing.
In an unexpected turn of events, the Hyattsville City Council tabled discussion of next year's budget over objections raised about police staffing. The dispute centers on a newly discovered discrepancy between police staffing called for in two different budget measures. In mid-April, the city council approved a police department budget which laid out a 32-person patrol division split between six sergeants, seven corporals and 19 privates. However, the omnibus budget bill distributed to the city council at the end of April–which consolidates all the proposed department budgets, revenue expenditures and capital improvements under one measure–contains a different staffing layout. That measure calls for eight sergeants, three corporals, two …
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Proposal to take parking enforcement out of hands of police department and into code enforcement scrutinized by Hyattsville City Council.
Who do you want writing your parking ticket? A police officer or a code enforcement officer? That very question vexed members of Hyattsville's City Council last night as they discussed next year's budget for the Department of Community and Economic Development. The council took no action on the department's budget measure during last night's meeting. The budget, in addition to laying out dollars and cents for the next fiscal year, also calls for parking enforcement to be taken out of the hands of the city police department, and placed into the hands of the city's code enforcement officers. Councilor Tim Hunt (Ward 3) worried that such a shift in duties could cause a decline in the quality of the city's code enforcement efforts. The …
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
A student arrested, four arrested at UTC and a food delivery driver robbed of his vehicle.
Dec. 3 At the Mall at Prince George’s, about 3 p.m., a victim was robbed at knifepoint by two unknown suspects in the rear parking lot. Dec. 5 At the 4500 block of Emerson Street, sometime since Nov. 30, someone stole the rear tag from a parked vehicle. At the Mall at Prince George’s, about 2:30 p.m., a suspect was arrested for shoplifting. At the Mall at Prince George’s, about 5:15 p.m., a suspect was arrested for shoplifting. At the 4700 block of Rhode Island Avenue, about 6:15 p.m., a business was robbed at gunpoint. On Dec. 14, a juvenile was arrested and charged as an adult. At the 6000 block of 36th Avenue, about 9 p.m., two unknown suspects armed with handguns robbed a food delivery driver of his vehicle. Dec. 6 At the 6000 …
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Here's a roundup of crimes reported to the Hyattsville Police Department during this time.
July 17 At the Mall at Prince George’s, about 8 p.m., a suspect was arrested for shoplifting. July 18 At the 6000 block of 37th Avenue, sometime between noon on July 16 and 9 a.m. this date, someone broke into a vehicle parked in this area and removed property. At the 5400 block of 39th Avenue, sometime during the night, someone broke into a vehicle parked in this area and removed property. At the 3500 block of Oliver Street, sometime during the night, someone broke into a vehicle parked in this area and removed property. At the Mall at Prince George’s, about 3 p.m., a suspect was arrested for shoplifting. July 19 At the 6500 block of Belcrest Road, about 5 p.m., it was found that someone had broken into a vehicle parked in this area …
About crime terminology.
Mid-week again, Hyattsville! Here are five things you need to know today about crime terminology: 1. Burglary: breaking and entering into a house or other structure. 2. Assault: an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to harm a person violently, with an apparent ability to do so. 3. Child: a person under the age of 18 or as defined by state law. 4. Robbery: taking or trying to take anything of value from the care, custody or control of a person by force or threat of force. 5. Sexual offense: forcible rape, attempted rape, statutory rape, sexual harassment, prostitution, or other unlawful sexual contact/unlawful behavior intended for sexual gratification or profit from sexual activity. You can read more about crime terminology at …
Monday, July 25, 2011
About crime in Hyattsville.
Happy Monday, Hyattsville! Here are five things you should know today about the most recent crime trends in Hyattsville: 1. In 2010 the Hyattsville Police Department had a 1 percent reduction in crime over 2009. The year before that the HPD had a 10 percent drop and in 2008 there was about a 3 percent reduction in crime. 2. In Hyattsville, 71 percent of crimes reported are thefts. 3. Of all Hyattsville’s violent crimes 48 percent are assaults and 46 percent are citizen robberies. 4. Of total crime reported to the HPD, 88 percent is committed against property and 12 percent is committed against persons. 5. The HPD has a closure rate of 30 to 40 percent for citizen robberies.
Ron Rifenberg
2:06 pm on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
I agree with J hampton and Chief Holland. The city has screwed the PD to many times more ›