dck
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作者：dck 在 罕见奇谈 发贴, 来自 http://www.hjclub.org
Doors, Windows Battered At 22 Pr. George's Homes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/09/AR2006010902077_pf.html
By Avis Thomas-Lester
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 10, 2006; A01
Paul Drake had fallen asleep watching football on the living room sofa when a loud thud woke him. It was followed by a series of thuds as vandals charged his front door with what he believes was a battering ram, splitting the door frame and leaving Drake struggling to keep them out.
"Let the dog out! Let the dog out!" he recalled hollering to his wife as the vandals fled.
The incident, at 1:45 a.m. Sunday in Suitland, was part of a three-hour spree that left doors and windows smashed in at least 22 Prince George's County homes, police said yesterday. The vandals injured no one and took nothing from the houses and apartments as they moved undeterred across a 10-mile swath from District Heights to the Lake Arbor section of Mitchellville, police said.
"In each of the cases, they never gained entry. They simply ran off," said an investigative supervisor in the county police District III Station in Landover.
Police said yesterday afternoon that they had made no arrests but that several residents had provided partial descriptions of the vandals or vehicles. Authorities suspect that the crimes involved teenage boys, possibly under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Officers said they did not know whether the damage was done with battering rams or by kicking. They could not recall any similar spate.
Vernon Herron, the Prince George's public safety director, said police are taking the "senseless crimes" seriously. He said that patrols would be stepped up in the affected areas and that officers would be watching for similar incidents, which could be prosecuted as vandalism, destruction of property or breaking and entering.
"We want parents to understand that if their children are involved in this malicious activity, they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Herron said. "Residents deserve the right to have their property and homes protected and free from vandalism.
"These were senseless acts committed by people with too much time on their hands," he added.
He said the vandals easily could have been injured, particularly because several of the residents were awakened in the incidents.
"With all the home invasion crimes in the Washington region, people are very uneasy when it comes to people coming to their doors," Herron said. "What could have started as a prank could have ended tragically. These people need to understand that in today's times, when you enter a person's home or property, people are very fearful, and they try to protect themselves. . . . Doing something like this is dangerous."
Law enforcement officials warned that the use of deadly force by a resident against an intruder may sometimes be legally permissible.
The Drakes echoed the concern over the brazenness of the crimes. At the time of the incident, the family had lights on inside and outside the home. The front yard, where the vandals were, was illuminated by a streetlight.
The most frightening thing, Drake said, is that the offenders refused to stop, even after they realized people were home and awake.
"Once I woke up, I heard someone banging on the door like they were trying to get in," he said. "I ran to the door and was holding it while they were trying to bash it in. I hollered for my wife to let the dog out. Once the dog came out and started barking, they ran away.
"I never heard any voices. I never saw anybody," he added.
His wife, Saphronia Drake, was also awakened by the thud and instantly worried about her 18-month-old grandson. "I didn't know if the baby had fallen off the bed or my husband had fallen off the sofa or what," she recalled. "I almost bumped into my daughter in the hall because she had been awakened by the noise, too. We go into the living room, and my husband is kneeling by the door."
After the Drakes reported the incident, several police cars and a helicopter spent more than two hours combing the neighborhoods looking for the vandals. Police were fielding calls from residents in other homes broken into Sunday morning and at one point called officers from other parts of the county to supplement their efforts, authorities said.
Although police said they have no evidence that a battering ram was used, Drake believes it was. "They were hitting it with a force that felt like that," he said.
Fashioned after a medieval weapon, the modern-day battering ram is a metal rod, a few feet long, often used by police and firefighters to break down doors. Several rap music stars, including Kanye West and Chamillionaire, make reference to them in songs now on the charts.
Drake said his insurance company said it would cost $400 to $600 to repair the damage done Sunday morning.
Law enforcement officials said residents should check to make sure their door frames can withstand the pressure of kicking or ramming.
In many cases, doors are constructed of steel, but the wooden frames are vulnerable.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
Pr. George's Vandals Strike Again
Doors of 15 Capitol Heights Homes Battered; Nothing Taken
By Allison Klein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 11, 2006; B01
Harriet Legree wedged a thick chair against her recently smashed front door to try to secure it. Up the street two blocks, Angela Young had her son's quick-tempered, 150-pound Rottweiler come over for a measure of security.
As night fell yesterday in Prince George's County's Capitol Heights neighborhood, nervous residents tried to protect their homes after their doors were bashed in Monday night during a second wave of mysterious vandalism in the county.
Between 9 p.m. and midnight, 15 doors were kicked in or smashed in single-family houses in Capitol Heights, five of them on the same street. Two nights earlier in nearby neighborhoods, doors and windows of 22 homes were hit in a similar fashion.
"They didn't care about somebody being home," said Young, whose door was broken with a loud "whomp" that shook the house at 10:30 p.m. Monday. "It made me nervous. I have a cat. He was nervous, too."
As in Young's case, many of the homeowners were inside their houses when their doors were smashed. None of the 37 targeted homes were entered, and nobody has been hurt in the incidents.
The attacks this weekend were in a 10-mile swath from District Heights to the Lake Arbor section of Mitchellville. Monday night, they were concentrated in the Capitol Heights area, with several on Capitol Heights Boulevard.
The curious crimes are leaving some residents on edge and not quite sure if the attacks are being committed by incompetent burglars, people trying to spread fear or teenagers out to destroy property.
"It makes me feel uneasy about being here," Legree said. "They were riding around kicking in people's doors. I don't know if they were trying to rob people, too."
Police believe thrill-seeking teenagers are probably breaking down the doors with a swift, strong kick, and then running from the houses.
"It's most likely the same group of kids," said Lt. K. Burke, commander of the District Three investigative section. "Our suspicions are that it's a typical prank, like some kids would drive down the street knocking down mailboxes."
Police could not recall a similar crime spree. Copycat crimes have not been reported in the Washington region. Investigators have ruled out gang activity as a motivation.
Some of the victims said they thought the suspects used a chain saw to break down the doors, police said. One family said they believe a battering ram was used on their door Saturday night, but police say they have not found any evidence to support that theory.
"If they were using a battering ram, we would be seeing much more damage," Burke said. He added that battering rams are bulky, heavy instruments to operate, which would probably make them unattractive to criminals.
None of the victims was able to get a look at the suspects or the methods they used to smash in the doors, police said.
Young said she ran to her front door to see what had happened and saw it swinging open. "I was like, 'What is going on?' " Young said. Her 100-pound Rottweiler, Sasha, ran out of the house and chased the vandals, but did not find them.
Soon after, she got her son's dog, Santini, who is even huskier and more protective than big-boned, drooling Sasha.
Young said she would have a relative fix her door, which had a broken lock on the handle but a functioning deadbolt. At the time of the vandalism, only the handle of the door was locked.
Last night, Legree, who is renting her house with her fiance, was waiting on her landlord to fix her door. She found it knocked off its hinges and swinging open when she ran out of her bedroom Monday night to see what the loud noise was. Her house alarm was blaring.
Her fiance told her to go back in the bedroom and call 911. By the time police arrived, the vandals had run off.
Many of the houses in Capitol Heights have exterior front doors that are iron gates. The homes that were hit did not.
Capt. Andrew Ellis, a police spokesman, said extra patrols were called to the targeted neighborhoods to look for the assailants. He also said that public safety communications operators have been told to dispatch an officer with priority if a similar call of vandalism is reported. Usually, vandalism calls are not a high priority in the county, Ellis said.
If the assailants are caught, they can't be charged with burglary or breaking and entering because they have not entered any homes, said Prince George's State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey.
He said they probably would be charged with malicious destruction of property, which carries a penalty of up to three years in prison and a $2,500 fine if the damage is at least $500. If the damage is less, the penalty is up to 60 days in jail, Ivey said.
One victim from the weekend attack said his insurance company said it would cost $400 to $600 to repair the damage.
Law enforcement officials warn that deadly force by a resident against an intruder might sometimes be legally permissible.
Staff writer Lonnae O'Neal Parker contributed to this report.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/10/AR2006011000920_pf.html
作者：dck 在 罕见奇谈 发贴, 来自 http://www.hjclub.org |
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《华盛顿郊区治安严重恶化。杀人放火事件飙升。 
