So yesterday on the 22 (Lorain Ave.) bus around W. 84th street, some douchebag decides to snatch a 18 year old CSU student's phone and bolt out the door.  Not exactly newsworthy...except to me and my family.  It was my niece who got robbed.

 

It's probably worth mentioning that both she and her mom had views about cities and transit a lot closer to the norm here than mine, but that's changed at least for now. 

I always hold my phone down low and towards the windows while on the bus. It mostly doesn't leave the space between my leg and the wall. However, I don't know how practical that is if your niece is anything like the teenage girls I know on their phones.

I put this on the phone companies.

 

I think 2014 marks the first year when these stolen phones are bricks.  Well at least the newer models won't be able to be reactivated with a new account.

 

 

^ I put it on the piece of shit who stole her phone. 

 

There obviously are a bunch of thugs who ride the bus/train. Most won't bother you, directly, but once in awhile they act out while still on public transportation.

 

Two days in a row I heard these guys talking.

 

The first guy was on the healthline and talking on the phone really loud about how someone had a "clear shot" on him and how he is "still standing" and basically repeated that 20 times with a lot of f-words and n-words in the middle. Mentioned a gun as well.

 

The second day a different guy was talking to a friend, again very loudly, who was a girl about his time is prison, guns, random stories, and again a crap load of f-words and n-words.

 

Then on the red line a group of kids were just screaming there two favorite words over and over. An older gentlemen in front of me was shaking his head in disgust.

 

Most people on train/bus just want to get where they are going and act civil and respectful of others. But there almost always seems to be atleast one person completely unaware of their surroundings.

^Unaware or indifferent, and a huge peeve of mine too.  But not criminal...

 

Erocc, I'm sorry about your niece- that totally stinks.  Unfortunately the new ubiquity of high value, small electronics has been accompanied a pretty big spike in public transit theft. If it was an iPhone, there may be ways to track it, but I'm sure your niece knows all about that. 

This might cheer you up a little:

Guys it doesn't have to be an iPhone  (IOS). There are a number of apps available on GooglePlay and Windows that are available for free and purchase. Also Android has a baked-in manager that will locate your device where you will have a number of control options. Go to https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager and try to locate your own android phone.

Guys it doesn't have to be an iPhone  (IOS). There are a number of apps available on GooglePlay and Windows that are available for free and purchase. Also Android has a baked-in manager that will locate your device where you will have a number of control options. Go to https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager and try to locate your own android phone.

 

Thanks for the video!

 

Do any of these work if the thug has the sense to turn off the phone?

"^ I put it on the piece of shit who stole her phone.  "

 

How about this IF the phones were not able to be re-activated then they would be worthless to steal.  Since they CAN be ANONYMOUSLY reactivated the phone company gets a new account and a new hardware purchase.  TADA! 

 

 

No, you need a dumb thief which is problematic, but still a whole lot more likely here than in places like NYC and SF where stealing phones is a major local industry.

My girlfriend had her phone stolen out of her hand while sitting on the rapid last year. Same scenario, thief ran right out the door as it opened and grabbed her phone up on the way out. She was not holding it high in the air, it was in her lap, but she was on the outside as that was the only place to sit. Regardless, this should not be happening and perhaps is something RTA should look at?

^It's happening everywhere, sadly, even in safer cities. And even in suburban Starbucks with getaway cars.  Occasionally the thieves get busted if a cop is right there, but otherwise not sure what a transit authority can do other than maximizing patrol coverage.  The best bet for prevention is probably technical, as DeanSheen alludes to.  I don't know how meaningful it is, but FWIW: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/10/phone-theft-activation-lock-apple-_n_3417032.html

The crazy thing about these phone thiefs is that, with rising costs of smartphones, they are committing grand theft most likely.  And I agree that the phone companies are actually benefiting from this..... not only do they get a new customer, the victim has to buy a new phone

The crazy thing about these phone thiefs is that, with rising costs of smartphones, they are committing grand theft most likely.  And I agree that the phone companies are actually benefiting from this..... not only do they get a new customer, the victim has to buy a new phone

 

My ex girlfriend's husband is a Cleveland cop and she points out that if the phone is taken from someone's hand it is not theft it is robbery.  If I'm not mistaken, there's a very unsubtle legal distinction between the two.

My ex girlfriend's husband is a Cleveland cop and she points out that if the phone is taken from someone's hand it is not theft it is robbery.  If I'm not mistaken, there's a very unsubtle legal distinction between the two.

 

And when exactly does your married (to a cop) ex-girlfriend point this out to you ;)

 

Yes, there is a distinction between robbery and theft.  I was speaking more in general terms of stealing cell phones, which are often taken without threat or force, and theft is the general term applicable to a wider range of property crimes.  The situation with your niece might actually be more properly categorized as larceny, not robbery, in most jurisdictions.  It would only be robbery if your niece gave the thief the phone under threat.  If he demands the phone and she hands it over it is robbery.  But getting what happened to her is more akin to being pick-pocketed and by snatching the phone out of her hand, before she had a chance to object, it is larceny.  But the value of the phone (if over $500) would make it grand larceny.  I'm sure some prosecutor could make the argument it rises to the level of robbery and the cops might even charge the suspect with both if caught. 

 

Regardless, the point I was making is that stealing a smart phone is not a petty offense.  It is a felony in many circumstances, and the dividing line is determined by the value of the phone, not any discounted price you might have paid for it.

"^ I put it on the piece of shit who stole her phone.  "

 

How about this IF the phones were not able to be re-activated then they would be worthless to steal.  Since they CAN be ANONYMOUSLY reactivated the phone company gets a new account and a new hardware purchase.  TADA! 

 

 

 

There's truth to this. It's not the phone manufacturers that are resistant to the kill switch idea, but the carriers.

 

 

Carriers Reject a ‘Kill Switch’ for Preventing Cellphone Theft

 

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/carriers-reject-a-kill-switch-for-preventing-cellphone-theft/?ref=technology

 

...Mr. Gascón said that, based on e-mails he had reviewed between a Samsung executive and a software developer, it appeared that the carriers were unwilling to allow Samsung to load the antitheft software. The emails, he said, suggest that the carriers are concerned that the software would eat into the profit they make from the insurance programs many consumers buy to cover lost or stolen phones...

 

 

My ex girlfriend's husband is a Cleveland cop and she points out that if the phone is taken from someone's hand it is not theft it is robbery.  If I'm not mistaken, there's a very unsubtle legal distinction between the two.

 

And when exactly does your married (to a cop) ex-girlfriend point this out to you ;)

 

 

ROFL! 

 

On Facebook, where else?  Judy is on both my page and Eva's.  Indeed I pinged her to see if she had any suggestions, and indeed she did.

 

I wasn't the boyfriend immediately preceding him, so John and I get along reasonably well.  WBITD, the two of them helped us get the scoop in a situation where we didn't want to attract official notice (a rental property thing)

RIP... I wrote about Sam and went to school with his son....

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/11/samuel_g_lucarelli_founder_of.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=t.co

 

http://clevelandmob.com/sterling.html

Just heard my friend was rubbed at gunpoint last night at W.58th and Detroit. He's okay.

 

Not cool Gordon Square.

 

How about "not cool" of your friend?  At what point are people responsible for their own behaviors?  Don't walk down 58th by yourself late at night.  58th isnt what I'd call a bad street but it is the far edge of Gordon Square commercial district.  It's pretty desolate between Detroit & the Parkview & could be full of surprises south of Detroit.  The area is definitely on the upswing but you can't put yourself in unsafe situations, then be angry or surprised when bad things happen.  At the same time, I'm glad your friend wasn't hurt

 

Agree he shouldn't have been in that situation, and he knows that - lives in the area. He's not angry or upset, just glad to be alive.

 

Just so everyone knows, the three men who robbed Surf Ohios friend have been arrested.  They attempted this act again in Gordon Square and actually took the victim this time and his car.  Cops nailed all three of them.  Charges for aggrevated robbery, kidnapping, maybe other stuff.  We take this very seriously in this neighborhood, this is the first i have heard of serial robbers in the heart of the district

That is terrible. I just sent my husband walking down that street because he wanted to watch the game and Happy Dog won't play the game with sound, so I suggested he walk down to the parkview. I'm really glad they apprehended the jerks.

^^ good news!!!

and actually took the victim this time

 

this is really scary. its much greater than a gunpoint robbery.

R n R, so you know the crime took place South of Detroit away from the direction of Parkview.  58th North of Detroit is actually a tight-knit neighborhood and generally speaking i would walk from Happy Dog to Parkview at most hours and usually do when walking my dog.  In fact, 58th b/w Detroit and Franklin is tight-knit as well, but the criminals were hanging out at an abandoned house, which is under the microscope of the city.  They put a zone car next to Happy Dog after that incident and it worked.  The second incident did NOT happen near happy dog, but over near some dumpsters near Rite Aid.  Regardless, these three were cancers and they got nabbed. I hope that send the lesson.

They will be in jail for a week.

^Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?  Is there something to the story you know which isn't reported above?

Second District ‏@second_district 21m

 

VICE BUSTED A HOUSE YESTERDAY BASED ON INFORMATION FROM A FACEBOOK TIP. KEEP FEEDING US THE INFO AND WE WILL FOLLOW-UP, I PROMISE.

 

https://twitter.com/second_district

^Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?  Is there something to the story you know which isn't reported above?

 

Is that directed to me?

Second District ‏@second_district 21m

 

VICE BUSTED A HOUSE YESTERDAY BASED ON INFORMATION FROM A FACEBOOK TIP. KEEP FEEDING US THE INFO AND WE WILL FOLLOW-UP, I PROMISE.

 

https://twitter.com/second_district

 

Commander Sulzer always types in all caps. Love it

^Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?  Is there something to the story you know which isn't reported above?

 

Is that directed to me?

 

No - http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,23836.0.html

 

It was directed at the conclusory statement that the people charged with aggravated robbery and kidnapping will only be in jail for one week.

^ it was a joke. It always seems like when we catch these guys we see that they should still be in jail from former crimes.

^ it was a joke. It always seems like when we catch these guys we see that they should still be in jail from former crimes.

 

Yeah, which is why just because these guys were the first serial robbers they caught, it's doubtful they were the first to strike.  Thugs rarely stick people up only once.

That is terrible. I just sent my husband walking down that street because he wanted to watch the game and Happy Dog won't play the game with sound, so I suggested he walk down to the parkview. I'm really glad they apprehended the jerks.

 

The Browns game?  That's odd.

 

I'm surprised more bars don't turn on the deaf people captions.

He was super pissed. He said he's seen it before there and they played the sound, so perhaps it was at the whim of the servers that day, which is kind of crappy.

^hipsters for ya.

Deja vu all over again...

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/Person-shot-outside-of-downtown-Cleveland-bar-early-Friday-morning

 

 

Time to shut that one down next. Sucks for crime stats, but the good thing is by having all of these shootings, we are ridding downtown of these sh*tholes. They are shooting themselves in the foot. Literally and figuratively.  :shoot:

Is there something that can be done about this place before these shootings become even more of a regular occurrence? I'm moving into the Hanna building this month and this has got me a bit worried.

^If you don't hang out at places like Ultra, gang bang, or sell drugs, you have nothing to worry about. 

I'm sure the city will act quickly to shut this place down.  K&D just opened up the Hanna project, and there are several rental conversion projects happening on Huron - all within in steps of this bar.  Too much investment in Playhouse Square to continue to allow this place to attract trouble makers.

^If you don't hang out at places like Ultra, gang bang, or sell drugs, you have nothing to worry about. 

 

Not so.  The laws of physics do not care if you are an innocent bystander.  (Example:  Kent State).

 

Look at their Facebook page.  Not only does it make it clear what kind of place they are, they had a major event last night.  And they let the under-21 crowd in.

^Bad example.

^Bad example.

 

I can't find her name, but there was a little girl killed on Francis Avenue, a couple blocks away from where my grandparents used to live, a few years back.

I get that it does happen.....However it's VERY infrequent.  Is Francis ave by the Hanna building where Winterton is moving?  If not, I don't see your point. 

Woman found shot dead inside car in Ohio City early Friday

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Police are investigating the death of a woman found shot in the head inside her vehicle at a public housing facility in Ohio City early Friday morning.

 

Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority officers responded to 1270 West 25th Street about 2:30 a.m. Friday for reports of a woman bleeding, according to police.

 

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/12/woman_found_shot_dead_inside_c.html#incart_river

My favorite project N of the Shoreway strikes again.  Thanks HUD!

 

The shock on cle.com comments is priceless, watching people weigh in with no understanding of the location.

 

 

I get that it does happen.....However it's VERY infrequent.  Is Francis ave by the Hanna building where Winterton is moving?  If not, I don't see your point.

 

If this was the first time I've heard of this happening at this bar, I wouldn't be as worried. My concern comes from the fact that, and correct me if I'm wrong, this is the same place where another shooting took place just over a month ago (discussed upthread). I guess it's three points that make a trend, but I'm sure you can understand where my concern comes from.

^ I understand. It's a legit concern.  I lived downtown for two years (not far from Hanna) just stay away from those places after midnight and you shouldn't have a problem.  I never did. 

^^ I live downtown as well and regularly make the trek down Prospect at all hours of the day/night to get to CSU. That area is very safe. The Executive lounge will now be considered a nuisance property by Cleveland law if they already weren't and be shut down by years end. I am willing to bet on that.

^^ I live downtown as well and regularly make the trek down Prospect at all hours of the day/night to get to CSU. That area is very safe. The Executive lounge will now be considered a nuisance property by Cleveland law if they already weren't and be shut down by years end. I am willing to bet on that.

 

Xecutive, you mean.  As opposed to the Den.  At least the Mafiya knows how to spell our language.

My favorite project N of the Shoreway strikes again.  Thanks HUD!

 

The shock on cle.com comments is priceless, watching people weigh in with no understanding of the location.

 

This area was “The Angle”, and it was to the Irish what Slavic Village was to the Poles and Murray Hill was/is to the Italians.  Yet they were gone even quicker.  That would seem odd unless you understand the Irish, and for that matter the Scotch Irish.  They have no qualms about moving on when they don’t like circumstance.  This is why there are ten times as many Irish-Americans as there are residents of Ireland.  Indeed, there’s one more driving factor for “sprawl” that didn’t even make my list on that thread.

 

Still, if you all wanted to build a Manhattan type of dense neighborhood in the city of Cleveland, this would absolutely be the ideal spot.  Even immediately postwar, but especially now.  But you’d have to generate the political will to clean it out and I doubt that comes close to existing.

"Still, if you all wanted to build a Manhattan type of dense neighborhood in the city of Cleveland, this would absolutely be the ideal spot.  Even immediately postwar, but especially now.  But you’d have to generate the political will to clean it out and I doubt that comes close to existing."

 

Yeah, we covered that extensively in another thread I started from last year about this property that I think got lost in the upgrade.  What I got out of a lot of very good information from people on here who understand the history of that  property and how HUD operates is that "it's not gonna happen".