PSA: Robbery at Second & Academy

Just received this:

At 1:16 pm today (5/12/15) the South Orange Police Department notified SHU Public Safety that two SHU students were the victims of an armed robbery that occurred at approximately 1:00 pm at the intersection of Academy Street and Second Street in South Orange.  The students were approached by two males, one of whom was armed with a handgun.  The victims were thrown to the ground and their property was taken. The suspects were described as black males dressed in dark clothing, approximately 6 feet tall, late teens to early twenties, one with dreadlocks and one with short hair and braces.  The suspects were observed fleeing towards Prospect Street.

1:00 in the afternoon? Jeez louise. Hope the victims aren't too traumatized....

Here's hoping the two students are ok and the two sh|tbirds quickly find themselves on the hood of a squad car.  Preferably with their heads in the windshield.

Something needs to be done.  There have been a few daytime attacks like this on Seton Hall students in the past few weeks.  It's bad enough when it happens at night but now it's starting to happen in broad daylight! This is unacceptable at any time!

@irvingtonpirate - what I found disturbing was that this was not near the school.   We know the students are targeted and SHUfly has made an impact in deterring those incidences - but this could have been anyone walking in that area.

I don't understand why pedestrians on that end of Academy are so often the target of robberies. Although I try to be super conscious of street danger (lived through the bad old days on the LES), there's nothing there that jumps out to me as a red flag. Yet it seems like every week or two, someone gets mugged. ???

How horrible.

Oh my goodness. In broad daylight!! This is not very far from my house, and I'm home today with my kid. I'd never think twice about walking down the street in my own neighborhood at lunchtime. That's so scary.

Isn't this like 3 blocks from the police station? Pretty bold! Hope they are caught quickly. 

just saw this on Facebook - lock your doors, even when you're home!

Authorities are on the lookout for a man who police say illegally entered a home on Berkeley Road this afternoon, struck one of the occupants and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The man entered through an unlocked door at about 1:30 p.m. and when the victim yelled at him to leave, he confronted her, struck her with a bag and fled, police said a press release. The woman was not injured, police said.

Authorities described the man as a black male in his 30s with shoulder length dreadlocks, wearing a baseball cap, white and gray shirt along with dark pants.

The Essex County Sheriff's Office, along with Maplewood, Union and Springfield police departments are assisting in the search, said Police Captain Michael Mulligan.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Millburn Township Police Detective Bureau at 973-564-7017.

There are a few obvious college houses at the corner of 2nd & Valley - most notably the one where they never shovel and the lawn is littered with garbage, solo cups and parked cars covered in Seton Hall bumper stickers/magnets. If someone were to rob college kids,  I could see why they'd pick that corner.

I'm not sure I understand the connection between robbery and litter and Seton Hall stickers. Are the robbers targeting only Seton Hall students? My kid likes Domino Pizza. Should I be worried about walking around there?

I was just saying, there is obvious college housing there, so if someone were to target college kids, then that corner would make sense

The connection is between the seton hall stickers, solo cups/trash and who lives there

Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, they're running sting operations at crosswalks.

There was a high school kid robbed at 1st and Sloan back in March.  I think it's tempting to try and connect to two into thinking that someone is trying to target youths, but it's probably too small of a data sample to come to any conclusion.  (Which is a good thing, at least.)

tom said:

Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, they're running sting operations at crosswalks.

 That's not one of your smartest statements. The police can't be everywhere at once. The risk of this robbery was neither known nor obvious to anyone. I'd bet some of the force works at patrolling and crime prevention, and some of it works at traffic enforcement. Would you want it any other way?

This is why on-street cameras are needed in our towns.  It might not prevent muggings, but the police would certainly have pictures of the perps.  Plaster them on the news.  Someone will snitch.

mumstheword said:

This is why on-street cameras are needed in our towns.  It might not prevent muggings, but the police would certainly have pictures of the perps.  Plaster them on the news.  Someone will snitch.

 Yes, privacy be damned! 

I stand by my statement. Traffic enforcement is one thing, but sting operations are something else. There are plenty of real traffic violations to enforce without having the crews of three police cruisers lying in wait to see if they can bluff a motorist into not waiting for someone to cross the street.

Tom_Reingold said:

tom said:

Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, they're running sting operations at crosswalks.

 That's not one of your smartest statements. The police can't be everywhere at once. The risk of this robbery was neither known nor obvious to anyone. I'd bet some of the force works at patrolling and crime prevention, and some of it works at traffic enforcement. Would you want it any other way?

PurpleMonkeyDshwashr said:

mumstheword said:

This is why on-street cameras are needed in our towns.  It might not prevent muggings, but the police would certainly have pictures of the perps.  Plaster them on the news.  Someone will snitch.

 Yes, privacy be damned! 

Privacy on a public street?  Seriously?  Even the most conservative courts have held there is NO expectation of privacy on a public street.  Find a better argument.

gerryl said:

I'm not sure I understand the connection between robbery and litter and Seton Hall stickers. Are the robbers targeting only Seton Hall students? My kid likes Domino Pizza. Should I be worried about walking around there?

 No, you should be worried about your kid's poor taste in pizza.

Word.

I agree with Tom, tom. Your statement is not logical. The police cannot be everywhere at once. I live on Academy and don't fault the police for the incident. You may not like the sting operations but they don't have anything to do with this...

mumstheword said:

PurpleMonkeyDshwashr said:

mumstheword said:

This is why on-street cameras are needed in our towns.  It might not prevent muggings, but the police would certainly have pictures of the perps.  Plaster them on the news.  Someone will snitch.

 Yes, privacy be damned! 

Privacy on a public street?  Seriously?  Even the most conservative courts have held there is NO expectation of privacy on a public street.  Find a better argument.

 Moot point anyway since they already have cameras AFAIK.

Steve--My kid is on the autism spectrum. I have a lot of concerns about her diet. It is all relative. 

gerryl said:

Steve--My kid is on the autism spectrum. I have a lot of concerns about her diet. It is all relative. 

 Ok, my apologies.   I hope all of your concerns are eventually allayed  

I agree with tom.   I think sting operations are dishonest, especially with regards to traffic violations.  

we dont need public cameras controlled by police, but I wouldnt sweat more police presence in the form of patrol cars or actual police walking the block.  

hoops said:

... walking the block.  

 This is America!