Crime wave hits eateries

A wave of crime has hit businesses operating in Helen Joseph (Davenport) Road in recent weeks.

Restaurants have been particularly hard hit. At Badgers, all the outdoor and security lights were stolen along with two airconditioning units. The popular restaurant has suffered three burglaries and has also had its dustbins, wiring and copper pipes stolen over the past 18 months.

At Yossi’s, another popular eatery, the outside lights have been stolen twice as well as copper pipes, three airconditioning units, dustbins and a bar fridge. All these were stolen between 5am and 6am, when activity on the road is quiet.

At Habesha, light fittings have been stolen on three occasions and a nearby lawyers’ firm has had its windows broken and good stolen.

At the top of the road, Olive and Oil has reported a burglary and Pizetta, a few doors down the road has also reported burglaries. Owner, Tony Caloba said he had been forced to install security beams around his enitre premises in an attempt to keep thieves at bay.

Violent crimes have also been reported with Amsterdam and Badgers both having suffered at the hands of armed robbers. The modus operandi of robbers has been to sit inside the establishments for hours, eating, drinking and enjoying the various activities. They then draw firearms and hold up staff and customers, robbing them and making a getaway.

In the most recent incident, Keys on Davenport was hit at 6.15am on Monday, 17 February. It just took three minutes for thieves to make off with a computer, TV, amp and mixers as well as a laptop. The thieves broke a coffee machine when it was thrown on the floor.

Fed up and concerned for the safety of their staff, customers and their properties, the owners and managers of the establishments have got together to work out a plan to combat what has become rampant crime in the area. Gary Clayton from Keys on Davenport has taken it upon himself to employ the services of a security company to carry out patrols in the crime hotspot.

“Criminals were hitting businesses between 5am and around 6.30am in Florida Road where we had the same problem. We formed a partnership with Blue Security which was the only thing that helped. Crime was brought down by 80 per cent within three months. If you are hit at 3am, it will take longer for a security company or the police to respond, whereas with a security company in the area at all times, something can be done. I will be bringing in JBC Security for the next two weeks to patrol and report back on the activity and from there I would like businesses to look at an initiative which will give them peace of mind at the end of the day. Visibility discourages criminals,” he said.

He added that there was a definite increase in the number of ‘spotters’ operating on the road and a lot more activity was happening as the spotters keep an eye on the goings on in the area. “The police can’t do anything about it. We need preventative measures. It’s too quiet in this road in the morning and there’s nothing preventing crime,” he said.

Tony Caloba from Pizzetta said he felt the only way to keep petty criminals out of the area was to educate people to stop feeding and encouraging vagrants who hang around in vicinity. He said Metro Police also needed to target the so-called car guards who worked the area.

Heather Rorick from the Bulwer Community Safety Forum said she had been working with Metro to round up illegal car guards in the area and had she sat in meetings with council to take the issue further.

“Baxter Park, Davenport Avenue and Bulwer Park are a nightmare. We found vagrants sleeping in a park in possession of tyellow car guarding vests while on our street patrols. We will try patrol more as a group. I am trying to work 24 hours a day through my crisis centre to get to the bottom of the issues in the area,” she said.