January 30
...serving up your daily dish.
Steps away from the frustrating parking chaos at the Crescent Deck, a more frightening scenario played out on Saturday night. The flyer (already being distributed downtown), alerts residents and visitors to the area near Crescent and Trinity about a mugging at gun point that occured on Saturday night.
Deputy Police Chief Perry Mayers confirmed additional details this morning. According to police reports, the victim was attacked while walking east on the Crescent. The attacker, accompanied by a driver, got out of a car (described as a Pontiac), and accosted the victim, demanding his wallet. When the victim refused, the mugger pulled out a gun and hit the victim twice in the head. The victim fell to the ground; the mugger took the cash out of the victim's wallet and threw the wallet to the ground. He then returned to the car, which then sped away in the direction of Harrison Ave.
Guess I better bring my attack beagle the next time I go parking and walking by the Crescent!
Posted by: beag96 | Jan 30, 2006 1:24:31 PM
Guess I better bring my attack beagle the next time I go parking and walking by the Crescent!
Posted by: beag96 | Jan 30, 2006 1:24:57 PM
"either an Audi or a Pontiac"
Makes me think of those old Ford Grenada commercials where people would be unable to tell the difference between a Ford Grenada and a Mercedes!
Posted by: Appletony | Jan 30, 2006 2:14:46 PM
I don't think this story warrants wisecracks. I think it is a tragic, scary story that needs to be taken seriously.
Posted by: Barbara | Jan 30, 2006 2:26:03 PM
"either an Audi or a Pontiac"
I'll have to remember that line the next time I see my car insurance agent ...
Posted by: Jim | Jan 30, 2006 2:33:50 PM
Very scary. I hope the victim was able to get the perp's license plate.
Posted by: Miss Martta (8T) | Jan 30, 2006 2:37:50 PM
Seems American car companies are running out of ideas lately:
Posted by: Jim | Jan 30, 2006 2:46:32 PM
The only problem with noting the license plate number these days is that it was very likely a stolen car they were driving. They steal a car, do their dirty work, ditch the car in EO, Newark or some other place, and kick back for the evening.
Although it's a risky move, I've got to hand it to the victim for not relenting so easily. I've had a few friends in the area who were victimzed in the exact same manner.
Posted by: todd | Jan 30, 2006 3:13:02 PM
I think that the prevailing wisdom concerning mugging is to 'give it up' but to never let the perpetrators force you to get in a car or a car's trunk, etc.. At that point it's better to try to run away then to be kidnapped.
It's pretty foolish to refuse to comply with a request for your wallet when you have a gun pointed at you. This is what got a young man killed in Bloomfield several years ago in a restaraunt parking lot. He refused to give it up and was murdered by the muggers.
Posted by: RadonMan | Jan 30, 2006 3:37:01 PM
Prevailing wisdom is to make sure there is enough Police presence to deter this sort of thing happening -especially near a newly designed parking facility where security is a problem, as well as, in "prestigious" area were there is a high volume of people with filled wallets on a Friday and Saturday night.
Posted by: cstarling | Jan 30, 2006 3:49:27 PM
"ditch the car in EO"
Sounds like a nice neighborhood for a luxury condo project ...
Posted by: Jim | Jan 30, 2006 3:58:24 PM
So it happened right about here...
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=the+crescent,+montclair+nj&t=h&ll=40.81316,-74.220264&spn=0.005108,0.010482&t=h
Posted by: lasermike026 | Jan 30, 2006 3:58:36 PM
To comply or not to comply isn't a strategy. What you need is a plan to act a certain way for a given situation. Following the muggers plan isn't a good idea.
Posted by: lasermike026 | Jan 30, 2006 4:00:40 PM
cstarling, I agree 100%. It boggles the mind that thugs can rob with impunity in a well lit, upscale, area. Montclair can't affort the manpower it would take to guarantee 100% saftey for everyone frequenting this part of Montclair. There should be, and probably already is, foot patrol in this part of town but even so, muggers will mug.
If you are ever confronted by someone with a gun asking for your valuables, I hope you would have the good sense to relinquish them.
Don't EVER allow yourself to be comandeered by a thug. It would be better to be killed or wounded trying to escape then to suffer the horrors that such a depraved individual might inflict..
Posted by: RadonMan | Jan 30, 2006 4:01:21 PM
Montclair can and does afford a large enough police department to take on some of this responsibility...
and one cannot ever truely plan for how they will react in the face of a gun --believe me I know this first hand...
to discuss "victimology" on this particular thread or to question how this Victim reacted is worse than Monday morning quaterback strategy...
since each urban attack doesn't play out like a page in the NFL book of plays-
-Yes it is best to turn over your wallet and be done with it--Thank God we have a living victim-
-However
safety issues in Montclair must be addressed especially if the Avenue keeps attracting more and more nightlife and that means better and more pro-active patrolling techniques.
Posted by: cstarling | Jan 30, 2006 4:11:57 PM
Pro-active patrolling is called "patrol saturation" and has shown not to be effective. Its expensive too.
We as citizens need to learn how to be a harder targets. And there are a number of larger social issue's to address.
If you want to take a pro-active approach to neighborhood safety, start a neighborhood watch.
Posted by: lasermike026 | Jan 30, 2006 4:18:25 PM
I wonder if allowing citizens to arm themselves with concealed handguns would deter these kinds of crimes.
I don't know what the statistics in states that do allow this show, e.g. Texas, Florida..
Posted by: RadonMan | Jan 30, 2006 4:20:52 PM
I think the most common reaction to having a gun pointed at you by a mugger would be a pervasive, paralyzing fear and that a slowness to react to the mugger's demands due to this fear might be construed as an unwillingess to comply - a potentially deadly misunderstanding.
Posted by: RadonMan | Jan 30, 2006 4:24:27 PM
Note that, according to the story, no weapon was displayed when the initial demand for the wallet was made. The gun was pulled after the victim refused.
Who knows the exact details.
A good friend in JC was mugged in an almost identical scenario 2 weeks ago, except no gun was displayed, but the thug made it appear he had one under his hoodie. My friend sensibly handed over the cash, was allowed to keep the wallet, & the situation ended w/o injury.
Posted by: crank | Jan 30, 2006 4:37:03 PM
An armed mugging at 830 in the evening in a busy, pedestrian friendly area gives me considerable pause.
And, a reason to rethink a late evening dinner / movie in Montclair.
Coupla places to avoid:
--the lot south of Seymour by the Wellmont
--the very dark lot on Glenridge Avenue behind Thai Sri, Indigo Blue, etc
--parking by the Volvo dealer and down that street
Posted by: Paul from OB | Jan 30, 2006 4:41:17 PM
One of the reasons to take a self-defense class is to replace the paralyzing fear with rational thought.
This woman, Kathleen Baty, wrote a book about safety. I read it, learned a lot, and have passed on it to my sisters.
http://www.safetychick.com/
Posted by: hrhppg | Jan 30, 2006 4:52:28 PM
"I wonder if allowing citizens to arm themselves with concealed handguns would deter these kinds of crimes."
I'm going to go with probably an increased amount of death and injury caused by handguns. And a lot of a very scared and paranoid citizens in a community that trusts each other even less than it currently does.
On a slightly more lighthearted note, I would not like to see guns enter the mix when people find out the 9:30 showing at the Clairdige is front row only and then they have to wait on a half hour line just to pay for a parking spot they're already done with.
Posted by: Meghan | Jan 30, 2006 6:08:21 PM
