Allan Appel Photo
Officer John Caron and Sgt. Brendan Canning.
The cops put the kibosh on a string of robberies of pizza deliverers in the Hill South neighborhood, where police believe a tech-savvy 15 year-old was using a scrambled phone number app he had downloaded in order to lure his pie-and-cash bearing victims.
Meanwhile, officers got word of a new problem — open gambling, smoking, and dealing a few blocks farther along on Greenwich Avenue at Galvin Park.
Thoat ongoing challenge of community police work — solving a problem here while another pops up nearby — emerged Wednesday night at the regular meeting of the Hill South Community Management Team.
About 25 people gathered in the cafeteria of the Betsy Ross Magnet Arts School on Kimberly Avenue as District Manager Sgt. Justin Marshall introduced John Carron and Brendan Canning, two of his beat officers in the Hill South neighborhood, and gave a round-up of the police activity over the past month.
Marshall cited a total of seven robberies in the neighborhood as a “major issue.” He also detailed one success story in solving a spate of robberies of pizza deliverers.
Hill South Team board members Johnny Dye and Helen Martin Dawson.
Between March 3 and March 9, pizza deliverers three times were called to the area around Greenwich Avenue and Third Street, Marshall reported. When they arrived, they were summarily robbed.
To protect himself from exposure, the caller/robber used a scrambled phone number, not his own, Marshall said. “There’s an app online, and he downloaded it.”
No strangers to such matters themselves, the cops figured out the angle and eventually arrested a 15-year-old, whom they suspect was behind the robberies.
He was not arrested specifically for the pizza robberies but on outstanding warrants, Marshall said. He was known to the cops, having committed at least one robbery in the past.
Since the juvenile’s arrest, no more pizza deliverers have been robbed, Marshall reported.
“Thanks for the good police work,” said longtime resident and landlord Kampton Singh. He was among several who applauded Marshall, who then acknowledged his officers for doing the actual work.
What About Galvin Park?
Galvin Park, in the early morning.
Then came news of a new problem, farther down Greenwich Avenue at First Street.
In the back of the cafeteria, a man asked if the officers were aware of what has been going on there at Galvin Park.
Named for a beloved alder and colleague of late Mayor Dick Lee, John Galvin, the park was renovated back in 2007 with a new splash pad.
The kind of splashy activity going on there, according to the interlocutor, was not what was intended.
Every day between 1 and 3 p.m., the neighbor reported, open gambling attracts a sizable crowd of people, he reported. He also reported drug dealing.
He said he had noticed firearms, and he told the police that he thinks it all emanates from one of the buildings on Greenwich directly across the street from the park.
“What will you do about it?” he asked.
“Have you called us?” asked Sgt. Marshall.
“I don’t like to do that when I’m working,” the man replied. He works right in the neighborhood.
“We can’t be everywhere,” Marshall said. “We’ve got two officers in the Hill North and two in Hill South answering calls. So call us. I’m relying on the neighborhood. If you put it on our radar, we’ll address it in a timely fashion.”
“There will be an increased police presence” at the park, Marshall promised.
adults doing adult things like gambling, drugs, alcohol, fighting, and guns while children try to play in the park is not new. and this isn't news to the cops. all last summer this was a problem. and there is one house directly across from the park where most of the action happens. every night between 11 and midnite the fights start. youd think the landlord would do something. or the city would step in or something. since the snow melted, the park is trashed. the worker assigned to the playground retired so the park is forgotten. broken glass, diapers, fastfood, suitcases with clothes thrown everywhere you name it. hopefully, people get it together before summer so no one gets hurt this year or worse.