The Observation Deck

News outlets are reporting a 62 year old man driving a 2013 Lexus was carjacked and robbed early this morning at Bunts and Lakewood Heights Blvd.

After being bumped from behind by the carjackers, the victim exited his vehicle, and was subsequently robbed at gunpoint and his car taken.

Bridget,

I hope the man is OK. Sadly, this has been happening in Lakewood now frequently. I suspect it has to do with the heroin problem. The heroin problem in Lakewood is so bad that we have become one of, if not the worst, suburb in Cuyahoga County. Thank god the Mayor finally decided to ask the Attorney General's Office for help. Our police officers work really hard and do a great job. It just became a bigger problem than what one city could handle.

Persons have also been robbed at gunpoint just walking down the street. This appears to happen more frequently towards the Eastern end of Lakewood.

The best advice would be that if this happens to you, don't get out of your car. Head to the police station. If it is legitimate, you can work it out there.

Bridget Conant wrote:News outlets are reporting a 62 year old man driving a 2013 Lexus was carjacked and robbed early this morning at Bunts and Lakewood Heights Blvd..

Which side of Lakewood Heights?


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Lakewood. Report came from LPD

the left side

Stan Austin wrote:the left side

Stan


You know I need more than that. I have to process it Lakewood style.

Find where it happened, pick street at least two blocks west and north of it then say, "I always have said East of Wyandotte is bad news..."

Of course if it was on the south side of Lakewood Heights, it would have no impact on Lakewood.

.

So maybe we gotta come up with a new name; marketing concept such as the renaming of Highland Avenue. Maybe Lakewood should annex those few remaining houses on the other side of the street-assuming they would want to be annexed like the houses on the Valley side of Riverside.
Anyway, I wasn't there so I don't know which side it was actually on.

Stan Austin wrote:So maybe we gotta come up with a new name; marketing concept such as the renaming of Highland Avenue. Maybe Lakewood should annex those few remaining houses on the other side of the street-assuming they would want to be annexed like the houses on the Valley side of Riverside.
Anyway, I wasn't there so I don't know which side it was actually on.

Stan,

a new name? We tried to get people to call it the "Wood." They told us it was foolish and no one would say it. OH, never mid.

So the carjacking happened in Lakewood on Bunts at2195 Bunts. As reported the car was bumped from behind, as the driver got out to men with guns approached him and he banged up a bit from them, and called police. Police were looking for them as far as we know.

Over 117 cars stolen in the area recently. Police recently ran a sting operation at W117 and Highland Avenue Shell, leaving cars running while going in to pay for gas. Five people were arrested in that operation.

.

Are we in the midst of a crime wave?

Whatever happened to "Crimewood?" Anyone recall that lovely site that gloated over news that made Lakewood look like a hotbed of criminal activity?

Where'd it go?

You know it seems like our Safety Director has once again been strangely silent during the recent crime wave.

Does he know? Does he care? Does he care if we are safe?

His hiring practices would say the last thing he cares about is our safety.

But this is falling into forgetting to mention a rapist working the westside type of forgetfulness.

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concealed weapons, no time better than now, shoot the bastards, one less problem to deal with in the future. nip it in the bud.

Jackie, starting to be a viable option.

jackie f taylor wrote:concealed weapons, no time better than now, shoot the bastards, one less problem to deal with in the future. nip it in the bud.

Jackie,

You fight fire with fire, you are going to get burned.

This man was "banged up" but was not shot (as far as I know) and survived because he did NOT have a gun.

You want to see fire-fights in Lakewood?

I don't.

Thank you, Cameron.

I'm as critical of our local government as anyone, and I have every expectation that we could take further steps to reduce crime and improve safety.

But we also need to recognize that feeling safe is overwhelmingly independent from actual risk of violent crime.

Violent crime has been falling in America, generally, for some time, and yet public opinion about personal danger from crime has not remotely reflected this. It isn't hard to guess why that's the case, given the persistence of context-free "if it bleeds, it leads" journalism.

I don't think Lakewood is any different in that regard. Ours may feel like a small town, but more than 50,000 people live here. Crime will occur. Both media and social media will highlight each and every one. This leads people to guess that violent crime is a big danger — when in fact it is more a sign of the opposite.

"I tell people that if it's in the news, don't worry about it. The very definition of 'news' is 'something that hardly ever happens.' It's when something isn't in the news, when it's so common that it's no longer news—car crashes*, domestic violence—that you should start worrying." (Observation of Bruce Schneier, as quoted in The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes—and Why.)

Meanwhile, if you want to do something about the still non-zero possibility that you could be victim of a carjacking, turn to Google instead of a gun. (Just don't do this or anything else with your phone while driving, which is one of the tips to reduce carjacking risk, not to mention that of other much more likely threats to your safety.)

http://www.kevincoffey.com/driving/how_ ... acking.htm
https://www.state.gov/m/ds/rls/rpt/19782.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/US/avoid-survive- ... d=28284468

* Lakewood is so safe that we actually treat car crashes as news, also. Which is an area for me to take my own advice, I readily admit!

well said Matt, thanks for the input.