Theft Affects Apartment Residents

Commentary Editor

   Several residents of the Westside Manor Apartments experienced an invasion of their personal privacy and the theft of their possessions after several robberies occurred at the apartments over the last few months.

Photo by Latoya Shelton

Investigating - Sgt. Greg Johnson of the Monticello Police Department dusts for prints after a break-in at Westside Manor Apartments. Some residents, including students, have moved out of the apartments since the robberies have become worse.

   Westside Manor recently experienced a robbery at an apartment where a thief turned away a surveillance camera and broke the glass of a front door to enter the apartment of first-year student Jason Ogden from Bastrop La. The thief stole a sub woofer box and three sub woofer speakers during the Feb. 4 break-in.  Ogden also lost money after someone broke into his vehicle another time.

   “I didn’t know it was bad at first when I moved in here,” Ogden said. “It just got worse and worse.”

   According to Sgt. Greg Johnson, the Monticello Police Department does not have a suspect at this time.

   “We are just hoping maybe somebody saw something,” Johnson said. “If they did, maybe they can contact us and let us know.” 

     About three or four break-ins occurred in the month of December and an attempted break-in a couple of weeks ago.

   Johnson said he would like to catch the people or persons who are doing it, so that the residents can have a peaceful night's sleep.

   Other items lost due to theft include laptops, amplifiers, a fishing pole, speakers, cameras, cellular phones and other items.

   Visitors have also fallen victim to the robberies. First-year student Macie Walker, a Criminal Justice major from Bastrop, La.,  had her computer stolen from her car while visiting her boyfriend.

   So far, four people moved out of the apartments during the past month or two and more plan to move out by the end of February.

   Senior Justin Evans, a Biology and Chemistry major from Bearden, talked about the security around the apartments.

   “Security has been an issue,” Evans said. “ I lived in two apartments and had stuff stolen out of both. My truck was broken into as well.”

   Evans caught a thief in the act of taking possessions from his vehicle. The thief saw Evans, dropped the stolen items and ran. Evans said it happened around 2 a.m. and the apartment obviously looked as if someone was home.

   Johnson suggests several tips to keep a resident’s property safe.

• Put a stick on the top of or across the window to make it harder to open
• Have plenty of light, the more light you have the better
• Make sure the doors and car doors are locked. A vehicle alarm would help if you can afford one.

   Bernice Melms, the owner of Westside Manor, said the robberies continued to get worse over the past couple of months.  According to Melms, the police said there were break-ins around Christmas and with the economy being like it is, thefts will tend to rise around town.

   “It’s just not happening around in Westside Manor,” Melms said. “It’s in all areas.”

   According to past Monticello police reports, 11 thefts occurred as far back as 2003. The thefts happened September 2003, January and April 2004,  April 2006, September  and twice in July 2007  and  March,  October and twice in August 2008. The stolen items included; laptop computers, audio speakers and boxes, a license plate, an iPod and FM converter, money, wallets, credit cards, a cell phone, compact discs and other items have been reported stolen. The cost of the stolen items range from $50 to $1,800.

   “I think it is very sad that someone would lower themselves to steal from others, and that I hope that it stops and the police will continue to investigate it, find the person responsible and prosecute it,” Melms said.

 Updated Feb. 11, 2009

Latoya Shelton is a former resident of Westside Manor apartments.

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