Brazen daylight robbery in Chapel Hill

[mnhtnbb]

My son was one of the two men who were robbed mentioned in this article. Please, be careful and be alert. Be especially careful at ATM's. The request to use a cell phone is a new twist. This could be a sign of the worsening economy. Cross-posted in NC State Forum.

CHAPEL HILL - Two armed robberies early Sunday evening have police urging the public to stay alert, even when they feel safe.

Police think the same man robbed two men in a downtown alley about 6:30 p.m. and then robbed a woman at an ATM near University Mall 11 minutes later.

"We're particularly concerned because this is in daylight hours in areas that are pretty well populated," Chapel Hill Police Capt. Bob Overton said. "This is really brazen."

Overton said a man approached two men in an alley that connects the public parking lot at Columbia and Rosemary streets with Franklin Street near the Varsity Theatre. They told police the man asked to use their cell phone, then pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and demanded their cash.


http://www.newsobserver.com/print/tuesday/city_state/story/1149636.html

[NightWatcher]

1. I hope your son is ok. Remember ATM's are not only convenient for customers

it is recommended that you try to limit your exposure to them by getting money from the bank weekly and making sure you have enough on hand to get through the week. While you are at an ATM, your back is turned and you are very vulnerable. If you must use ATM's try to locate drive thru's and always be sure that you leave yourself plenty of room to get away if something "hinky" should present itself.

As the economy continues to go sour, we are going to see and hear about more and more bold, desperate measures taken by criminals.

Be safe

[mnhtnbb]

5. Thanks. People should be aware of the "Can I use your cell phone?" approach, too.

That's what stopped my son and his friend. If it had been me, I probably would have said I didn't have one and kept walking.

[NightWatcher]

8. yep, that is just a distraction to throw you off your guard

[IdaBriggs]

2. Link doesn't work. Sorry about your son! nt

[TommyO]

3. Here's a link that should work

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1149636.html

[mnhtnbb]

4. Thanks. Fixed the link.

[Breeze54]

6. Pretty frightening... glad your son only lost money.

:scared:

[mnhtnbb]

7. Thanks. We're all pretty frightened in Chapel Hill. Eve Carson,

the UNC-Chapel Hill student body president, was abducted from her house in downtown Chapel Hill in the middle of the night and driven to an ATM to withdraw cash. She was murdered less than 100 yards from our house. A sawed off shotgun was used. There are two men awaiting trial for her murder. One of them is also charged with the murder of a Duke graduate student.

My son is going to UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall with a scholarship that just about pays his tuition.
He also works part-time at an ice cream store on Franklin Street; the kids have to use the alley where he was robbed to take the trash from the store to the dumpster behind it.

There were lots of people on the street and in the parking lot at the time he and his friend were robbed.

[mmonk]

9. Thanks. My son is a student at NC State.

I'm going to tell him to steer clear of ATM's except those inside food court areas.

[exothermic]

10. Hopefully that bastard will try to rob someone with a gun

and they will blow his fucking head off.

[Arctic Dave]

11. Possibly, but not likely.

If you ever had a gun drawn on you, usually the assailent has the bead first(the element of surprise or distraction). If your superman you might be able to use superhuman speed to draw your weapon and discharge, however, very rarely this is how it goes down.

[exothermic]

12. The article says he robbed TWO men in an alley. If they were armed

that would change the equation significantly.

[mnhtnbb]

13. Yes. It would increase the chances my son would be dead instead of just missing $60.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not interested in living in the wild, wild, west.

I am fearful, though, that the response to this kind of thing happening is going to be greater police presence leading to martial law. I don't want that, either.

[exothermic]

15. Well, martial law is the only way you're going to get 100% "protection."

Although who protects you from the protectors is another whole problem.
edit: You said upthread "we're all pretty frightened here in Chapel Hill"...
so I suppose you'd prefer frightened to having personal deterrance? That sounds a lot like the kind of society we DUers are worried about devolving to. Or at least say so...maybe we're all just bullshitters in the basement. I'll continue to watch out for myself and anyone else I can
against the criminal element, thankyouverymuch.
:D

[mnhtnbb]

18. The problem is that this is a violent country--always has been.

I'd rather live in a society where gun ownership is restricted and guns weren't available everywhere.
That's an argument for another thread.

My point is that we have a society that has deteriorated to the point that criminals in a small college town like Chapel Hill are entering homes and abducting college girls to use their ATM cards and then killing them. Now anybody on the street in broad daylight can be accosted and held up. That used to be the big city risk!

[spin]

19. I had a very wise martial arts instructor who said...

"If a man walks up to you, points an gun at you and asks for your wallet..look into his eyes, because the eyes are mirror of the soul... if you feel that all he wants is your money, just give it to him. You can always replace your wallet, your drivers license, your credit cards and your money. You can't replace your life."

He did teach methods for disarming a person with a knife or a gun, but pointed out that using them just to act like a hero would very likely get you killed. Therefore he recommended you only use them when you truly believe your opponents objective is to kill or injure you.

He would have felt your son did the right thing. He survived.

[Arctic Dave]

16. Maybe, but not by much. Unless we want to put a lot

of assumption in to fit our scenario.

[supernova]

14. Really scarey. I use that parking lot often

when I'm in Chapel Hill and there is no where to go in that alley if someone accosts you there. :-(

I'm just glad your son wasn't hurt.

I mostly try to use drive thrus any more. But you never know.

[mnhtnbb]

17. My son also works part-time at one of the establishments on Franklin Street

and the staff use that alley to get to the dumpster at end of shift to dump all the trash.
They all go together when they do it--but that would just make more people to rob! But that's late at night. What was so brazen was this was daylight with lots of people around on Franklin Street and in the parking lot.

[marions ghost]

20. Many more areas are going to have to be

under constant surveillance in this gun-crazy culture. That's what we're coming to in this Rethuglican "let them eat cake" country. I remember being in Cleveland once and the employees of the art museum could not leave the building alone. They had to go out to their cars with police protection. Now it's everywhere. People in college towns must be very careful because they are viewed as sitting ducks. I know Franklin Street very well--it's typical of so many college towns and it seems like "a great place to live." Americans are masters of denial and have low standards for what's a great place to live IMO.

When will we finally realize that if you don't take care of all the people and create jobs for them, our culture will be full of criminals and our lives will become even more fearful and restricted. Already we are prisoners in our homes because of the unsafe streets and public spaces. Children can no longer play outside in the neighborhoods. And all anybody ever thinks about is that more police presence is needed. After a certain point it can't stop these crimes. We have to stop creating kids who view criminality as an option.

[mnhtnbb]

21. "We have to stop creating kids who view criminality as an option"

How true. That means we have to provide education and jobs at a living wage.

[Alcibiades]

22. It's amazing the offender could conceal

a sawed-off, double-barreled shotgun and wander around Chapel Hill without anyone noticing. You are right to note it probably is good no one else was armed, because even Dirty Harry could not have prevented someone armed with such a weapon from taking at least one life.

Thank goodness your son is safe. I used to feel safe when I visited Chapel Hill, but this takes the cake. I'll be sticking to Durham!

[mnhtnbb]

23. The irony is that the perp is probably from Durham

[Alcibiades]

24. They'll catch him

Anyone brazen enough to do something like this will be caught. Whether they will actually make the case, who knows--but he'll be caught for some major offense.

[supernova]

25. Probably caught for expired tags

or something equally dumb and unrelated.

[bean fidhleir]

26. But he won't be hurt during the capture, because scum know how to behave toward cops

Like the 4-time loser who shot little Alexis Goggins nearly to death - he quickly surrendered when the cops finally showed up, and therefore suffered no injuries at all. He'd shot Alexis's mother twice, and little Alexis 6 times, but he immediately dropped the gun when ordered and was completely obedient to the cops' demands, so he didn't even get roughed up.

[mnhtnbb]

27. He was arrested this afternoon. Check out the link.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3255618/