Town and Country Newspaper

News Article

Crime Check – You Can Help

Written by Larry Roeder, Editor
2012-01-19

Trough the courtesy of the Internet and YouTube, viewers were horrified to see the senseless beating of a New York Rangers fan at the hands of two thugs wearing Philadelphia Flyers’ jerseys. The incident took place on the crowded sidewalk outside of Geno’s Steaks in South Philadelphia on Jan. 2 shortly after a hockey game ended where the Rangers bested the Flyers in a “holiday classic.”

No matter what words were exchanged, the victim was obviously “sucker punched” and the beating continued after he was helpless and on the ground. The video is out there for the world to see. The victim was an off duty police officer from Southern New Jersey. He was also a decorated veteran of the Iraq war.

To date, one person has been arrested for the attack and the search remains for at least two others.

Last Saturday night a young Temple graduate from New York State, who recently took a job in the City of Brotherly Love, was brutally beaten and killed on the steps of the historic Second Bank of Philadelphia and in the shadow of Independence Hall.

The early morning attack took place when the victim tried to hail a cab and an incident erupted between the cabdriver and himself. Three thugs who were in a car behind the cab may have thought that the incident between the cabdriver and the victim included them. So, they did what thugs do. Jumped out of the car and beat the 23-year-old victim to death. Then, they drove off. Police are still searching for them.

That victim was the 20th homicide in Philadelphia in 2012, already surpassing last January’s total with almost two weeks to go.

You can look at our own police reports and see that something has gone terribly wrong with our society over the past few years and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Incidents of all types of crimes are increasing.

Among the disturbing trends is that of criminal mischief and vandalism. Last month there were dozens of incidents where perpetrators fired projectiles from BB or pellet guns into cars and homes doing thousands of dollars in damage and creating fear in the community.

Over the past two months, hoodlums have busied themselves with overturning anything that wasn’t tied down and vandalizing dozens of cars in Quakertown, Pennsburg and East Greenville. In these cases it wasn’t an isolated act of vandalism but attacks on other people’s property that lasted for several blocks within the municipality.

Every week homes and cars are being burglarized and thousands of dollars of items are stolen - including guns. Physical altercations are happening more often and the severity of them has grown.

Police are doing a fine job with their investigations and making arrests, but they can’t be everywhere at all times. They need the public’s help.

We can be the eyes and ears that can help the police investigators. Be vigilant in your day to day travels. Be aware of what is going on around you. When you see something suspicious, call the police. When you witness a crime, call the police.

Working with the police, the public can help to take a bite out of this insane crime surge that, if left unchecked, will continue to grow within our communities.

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