Armed Robbery (22 Feb 2008)
A sobering note from a Point Breeze resident:
Just a word of caution; I was robbed at gunpoint on Friday afternoon at 3pm, on Selwyn Street, by my car. They were after cash and they got some. Theywere on foot. (A fellow was robbed the same way last Tuesday on Hastings, the 200 block.) I had just unloaded the groceries, went out to lock the car and they came up behind me. About 18 to 20, one was black and slim, had a hood, a large silver revolver. The other was brown, had a mustache, a knitted hat, and a brown jacket with some leather, two toned, probably a sports team. Anyhow, I could identify them if they catch them.
We love our neighborhood and a couple bad actors can cause considerable havoc for a short time. Confident they will be caught. But right now, they seem to be roaming the East End in daylight looking for people who are by themselves.
I wasn’t afraid but was rather ticked off. Hope the police patrol the East End a little more aggressively for a while. No need to reply. Just be wary of strangers if you’re walking.
Report anything you think strange. Thanks.
You can pass the word on to your neighbors.
Ray Werner
February 26th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Hi Ray,
I am very sorry to hear about this accident and I am glad that you were not injured. In addition to hoping that the police will catch these criminals and will increase street patrolling, do you have any suggestion about what we (South Point Breeze residents) can or should do to keep our beautiful neighborhood fully safe?
You mentioned that this was not an isolated event, and this strikes me. I suggest to organize a SPBO gathering to discuss this issue more in depth. Perhaps we could invite a police officer to the meeting.
Best,
Marco Gemignani
539 Hastings st.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I was robbed in a similar way on Hastings on Monday evening of last week (Feb. 18) at 6:15pm, about halfway between 5th Ave. and Selwyn. In my case it was a single black male who seems to match your description of the second individual you encountered. He certainly seemed to have a pistol, although he kept it in his belt, so I did not get a good look at it. I made a report to the police right away. I don’t know if your reference of a robbery on Hastings last Tuesday is to my encounter, with a mix-up in the day, or whether there have actually been 3 incidents last week. In any case, I appreciate your publicizing this incident so others can be more alert and hopefully avoid further robberies.
Peter Koehler
February 26th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I’m deeply concerned about these incidents, even frightened, not so much for myself as for the atmosphere of our community. Fear is contagious and depressing. I already feel somewhat violated, just knowing it is happening. It’s going to be hard to repress some stereotyping here, close as we are to Homewood.
My response is to call for a community response. I’ve never organized a “block watch” but it seems as if that approach might be helpful. I would alert everyone in the community first. I would suggest that people at home keep an eye out on the street and keep their cameras handy. I would post the neighborhood telling the criminals that we are aware they are among us and we’re watching for them. I would also generally be careful not to carry any significant amount of money with you on the street. I would park in your garage if possible, but definitely scan the street before getting out of your car on the street. If possible I would suggest going out for walks with more than one person and your dog(s). If you have a cell phone, keep it with you for both calls and photos if an incident occurs. Any other ideas?
I will help to organize this.
February 26th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
This scares the hell out of me, particularly because my older daughter is a new driver who frequently comes and goes on her own.
Count me in for a block watch, SPBO meeting or anything can do as a community.
Ray and Peter, I’m truly sory for what happened to you.
February 26th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
This is very distressing and I’m sorry for those of you who were the victims and very relieved that you were not injured.
I don’t have any sense of how the report was received by the police and what - if any - their plan of action is. It would be a good thing to know and if necessary, we need to keep the pressure on to assure more vigorous attention to the area.
February 26th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
This is good to share this on the web and keep each other informed. I’ll start to check more regularly and share this info with others.
February 26th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I have some experience setting up blockwatches and working with the police. Please count me in on any meetings.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:00 am
Pittsburgh Bureau of Police - Zone 4
Point Breeze Robberies
There have reported armed street robberies in the Point Breeze Neighborhood. Pittsburgh Police ask that residents be extra vigilant to safeguard not only their own safety but to observe any suspicious people. Please call 911 and report any and all suspicious activity immediately. If you are the victim of a robbery, remain calm and give the actors whatever items they demand. If possible, be a good witness and take note of the actor’s height, weight, race, clothing, and direction of flight in which they fled.
http://www.citizenobserver.com/cov6/app/alert.html?id=3229
February 27th, 2008 at 4:02 am
Thank you so much for the information concerning my neighbor. I am also an Elysian resident.
I was wondering if there is any way we as neighbors of southpoint breeze can join together in finding more about the camera’s that we can possibly install on our corners..for surveillance. Maybe we can have an intial meeting to get a feel if anyone is interested in learning more about it, or finding out what they will cost us.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Thank you for posting Ray’s incident. Unfortunately, I’ve learned this is not an isolated incident. Several of my neighbors on Elysian are very upset and nervous to leave their home.
I am asking that we schedule a SPBO meeting at St Bede’s as soon as possible so neighbors can voice their concern. I want Mr. Peduto and a representative from the Pittsburgh Police to be there.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Last night Tibby & I were interviewed by channel 4 about this situation. It was interesting that the interviewer said the reason he was researching these events was that the police department had not released the number of robberies and the fact that they all occured in February. I hope to see more police presence in Point Breeze now. I think an SPBO meeting is in order.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/15420571/detail.html
February 27th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
ray..we are grateful you were not hurt! we have been having someone ring our doorbell between 4:30/5:00 a.m. this has happened four times during this incident..of course, we do not answer the door but it is frightning! also, two black men carrying snow shovels were seen ringing door bells and “peering into doors and windows” (i understand that they were on my porch…i was out of town but gordon saw them….also, new years day…5 a.m….our car windshild was “smashed” by a foot that left its “size 12/13 foot size”…i grew up in this house and i will do whatever it takes to stop this! we need more neighbor awareness…no one called 911 when our car alarm was blaring! please, let’s all be more concerned about each other and act as a neighborhood watch! we need to “act” and not “react”…let’s go back to being neighbors who “care” about their neighbors and our lovely neighborhood…count us in for the meeting…also, not everyone has a computer so we need to “knock on doors” to inform our neighbors…..
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Hello
as a 13 year old girl born and raised in point breeze think that part of this is cause of risenstien closing down and kids now going to the newly called Pittsburgh Sterrett since then the line known as penn ave to s and n lang dont care anymore but so they can come and go I advise you all to keep weapons such as poket knifes,mace, possibly heavy objects just for defense I love Point Breeze and Im sick and tired of watching our reputation go down just cuz we live near the bad parts of some areas. This is rediculous.
Ps I am truely sorry for those who have gotten attacked
sincerly
Cheyanne
March 5th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Hello ,
My husband and I live on Hastings Street and do a lot of walking -you probably know us to see. I have just been alerted to recent troubling events by a colleague at work . If we were ‘out of the loop’ so to speak, I am sure that there are also others. How can we find out about meetings planned in relation to this and other matters in our area?
I would like to add that I was most happy to read that no-one was hurt by these robberies ; however psychological trauma is another matter altogether ….and not to mention having ones money taken.
Thank you,
Ann
March 10th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Hi -
I’ve been following this with interest, but wasn’t able to attend the meeting. I was amazed to read what Gerry Indovina said about someone ringing their doorbell. that’s also been happening to me. My son, who lives on Willard, thinks I’m crazy and imagining things. Truthfully, when something like that happens when you are sound asleep, it’s hard to judge whether you WERE only dreaming! It happened a number of times during December, January & early February, but seems to have stopped. I found it frightening, but didn’t report it because frankly, I felt the police wouldn’t care or maybe even believe me.
March 10th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I am glad to hear of everyone’s concern for the neighborhood. I just wanted to mention that on Saturday morning around 2am I woke up hearing noises outside of the house. We live on Reynolds Street by the way. One individual was laying in the middle of the street and two others were possibly helping him get up??? Anyway, I am not sure what was going on, but the police were there within seconds it seems. The individuals were taken away by the police. It was good to know that both the police and our neighbor who called the police responded so quickly.
March 30th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Whoever is pulling this prank of ringing my doorbell is back at it again after a lull. They rang the last two Friday nights and then last night, Saturday night, twice, at 3:20 and 3:35. This really frightened me because I assumed the person just clanged the bell once and ran off, but last night they were apparently lurking around my house for 15 minutes. I called the police this time, but there is nothing they can do without some sort of sighting. They did say there had just been a burglary on Hastings earlier last night. I’d love to know if this is happening to more people in the neighborhood.