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There's a guy who lives across the street from me who has been busted several times for auto theft and for running a chop shop. I've complained to CMPD no less than three times this year (and gotten no response), and I contacted the mayor's office who forwarded my complaint to CMPD. The mayor's office responded to me by saying the CMPD is investigating the matter and that a car would be sent out between X pm and X am that night. I sat and waited on my front stoop and saw no car (marked or unmarked) whose occupant(s) appeared to even look at the house. I recognized most cars as neighbors' cars. None of the cars did more than slow down for a speed bump in front of the house beyond this guy's house.
I called and left a message for the neighborhood liaison officer TWICE. No response.
I talked to an officer who drove through the neighborhood. The officer said that someone in auto theft would call me. No response. I even went down to the precinct headquarters and complained.
Duh...
What's weird is that three years ago, I was outside doing yard work when two plain clothes officers tried to deliver something to the guy's house, but no one answered the door. The two officers approached me, asked questions, and told me to call if I see anything. I asked, "Like what?" One officer answered "Anything. Anything that looks funny. Absolutely anything out of the ordinary." After that, I began finding bloated dead rats on my door step. I was seen talking to the police.
I've called, but I've gotten no response. ZERO. What could have changed? The guy has numerous convictions for auto theft and for discharging a weapon. (He went on a rampage when he was let out of jail a while back). Why he isn't still behind bars, I'll never understand.
I see cars being driven into the guy's yard frequently. They're driven in by different twenty-ish men, and sometimes driven out by a female who lives there. He could have a legitimate repair business going, but it is illegal to have that type of business in a residential neighborhood. (I checked). I checked with the NC state Department of Revenue to check to see if he has a business license. Nothing is registered to his name or his address.
I have pretty much ignored the situation for the past two years or so. I didn't become concerned until I was menaced by two guys whom I recognized as his friends. (I won't go into that here. The police are aware of that situation as well). That was seven months ago, and that's when I reported the activity going on across the street. Since then, I've heard nothing back from anyone.
CMPD is no help. The mayor's office has made the police aware of the situation. The response is that the situation is being investigated. I believe that a police investigation includes talking to witnesses. I'm a witness, but no one has talked to me seven months on.
What now? Should I give up and hope that he doesn't start shooting at my house the next time that he gets stoned out of his mind?
One more thing: This is not a bad neighborhood. This guy is the only major problem in the area (as far as I know).
And another thing: the last time the police showed up at his house, no less than two dozen patrol cars were in the block, and two guys with tactical weapons and body armor stood on my lawn. I arrived at the scene during the middle of the drama. When I tried to drive onto my driveway, I was waved off and told to park elsewhere until the problem was cleared up.
Last edited by Langerhans; 08-17-2018 at 02:20 PM..
Man, do I feel for you. It sounds like they have raided his house in the past and yet he is still in business. I notice that in NOrth Carolina (or at least Charlotte metro) the cops definitely will bust criminals, but they don't seem to like to keep them behind bars and the DA doesn't seem to do a good job prosecuting them. How my neighbor is not in prison right now for being busted with felony drug dealing last year with already 3+ felonies under his belt and now a month ago for a stolen firearm, meth, stolen property, larceny and resisiting arrest is WELL BEYOND ME!! A measly $25,000 bail (only requires mom/dad/uncles/bros/sis to bring 10%) can be out of jail and back around our kids is sickening and insane!
Well, if the Charlotte PD are anything like the Huntersville PD, then I think you are flat out of luck. I do see the Charlotte cops hanging out at Amelie's 24-hour bakery a lot.. Offer to buy them some free coffee, baked goods and ask if they can hear your plea. Maybe, being buddy buddy with some cops is the way to go. You got to make it worth their while it seems. The mayor has got better things to do and believe me, you are not the only guy in Charlotte (or many cities) living next to a chop shop, crack/heroin/meth house, illegal brothel, etc. There are plenty more and the cops know about many of them (including yours) and depending your neighborhood the cops may not feel its worth their time. I'm sure if this was happening in Dilworth they would have been chased away years ago. If the cops want to make your life hell and you are an obvious criminal, they can certainly chase you out of town (or at least out of the neighborhood).
Sounds like the neighbors are intimating you. I hope you have some firearms and find some other neighbors who are armed and ready to stand up for the community. An Armed Society, is a Polite Society. Since the cops don't seem to actively want to stop this operation, then "WE THE PEOPLE" would be the only resort. I'm a firm believer in the 2nd Amendment and the gathering of an armed militia of law-abiding citizens and the right to keep and bear arms. A bureaucracy is bound to fail as our Founding Fathers have told us and what you are describing is living proof of this matter. I guarantee you if even 3 or 4 of your neighbors started doing armed patrols around their house they would be packing up and going bye-bye. Just so you know, open carry is legal in North Carolina and can be used to your advantage in this situation. You are allowed in this state to walk up and down your street with a loaded pistol openly carried on your hip (or wherever you choose). Criminals don't like heavily armed and vigilant, law-abiding citizens. That scares them! Police on the other hand, well from what I can see, they will bust down their doors, arrest them and they will be back on the streets and operating in no time. SO, no biggie with the cops!
I pleaded with the police, my property management and talked to my neighbors. Nobody seemed to want to make the change. Where I Lived in the Pacific Northwest, a psycho, drug dealing scumbag neighbor who is making a nuisance in the area wouldn't be staying very long in a nice, clean residential neighborhood. I lived in Lacey, Washington a town with some of the highest substance abuse in the Puget Sound and near one of the worst slums (Lakewood, wa) and yet my subdivision was kept free of all these bad elements. Even living near so many unsavory types they knew to stay in their own crappy neighborhoods were drug dealing, stealing, prostitution and no respect for society is tolerated.
If your neighbors don't give a crap or too scared to put an end to it, I don't think you have much hope. Time to sell your property, minimize your losses and run. I know a great property ownership/management company who probably would love to buy your home and rent it out to a dumb, unsuspecting renter, as myself (as I was that, but I've learned my lesson, I hope!)
Last edited by RotseCherut; 08-18-2018 at 11:05 AM..
You are right. He was raided in 2008 or 2009. That time, there were also at least two dozen police cars and four flatbed tow trucks that took away the hulls of cars. At the time, I could look up his name in the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's website. There were 21 felony charges against him. They let him out after about a month and he went back home to mama. The guy is about thirty now. He moved away for awhile, and he was in the news again. He stole a car with a GPS. After that, he disappeared for months and then moved back in with mama and her new husband.
I haven't seen the mother or her new husband for about a year. There's a different middle aged couple living there, but the mother's and her husband's cars are still there. Figure that one out.
The people who live next door to him refuse to talk about it with me. They can see right into his back yard. After the first bust, you'd think that they'd say something. I believe that they're intimidated by him. This isn't a crummy neighborhood. The property values are pretty high considering the age of the neighborhood.
I wonder what happened since I had that conversation with the plainclothes officer. I am sure that in the past he was watched. I'd see unfamiliar automobiles parked near the corner. I figured that it was the police watching him. I haven't seen any unfamiliar cars parked on the street, so I guess they've stopped surveillance.
After the first bust at mama's house, he built a roof over part of his back yard that thwarted surveillance by air. The guy is smart. He widened his driveway so that the other occupants didn't have to move their cars. Someone can open the gate and drive into the back yard. Several times on weekends I've noticed a car being driven into the back yard, and then all of the other four cars being driven into the part of the back yard that isn't covered as well. If CMPD flew a helicopter over his house, no one could tell if there was a car that didn't belong there.
I acknowledge that the guy and his friends are dangerous. I went through the motions of getting paperwork for open carry , got a license and bought a Remington 9mm, went to a firing range and all that. The idea of being armed makes me ill, so I sold the gun. I shouldn't feel the need to carry (or even own) a firearm. My being armed just complicates matters.
I acknowledge that the guy and his friends are dangerous. I went through the motions of getting paperwork for open carry , got a license and bought a Remington 9mm, went to a firing range and all that. The idea of being armed makes me ill, so I sold the gun. I shouldn't feel the need to carry (or even own) a firearm. My being armed just complicates matters.
It sounds like you are in a bad situation. However, I need to correct you on one legal issue here. YOU DO NOT NEED A LICENSE TO OPEN CARRY. SO, if you have a firearm, you can open carry it right now even without a CHL. North Carolina also recognizes every's state CHL, so if you don't want to wait the long process for NC CHL, find a state who is quicker and giving them out and you can conceal carry in NC as well. Open carry can be done in North Carolina without any concealed handgun license. Also, North Carolina does not require that crappy pistol purchase permit if you have a concealed handgun license. Then you can purchase an unlimited number of firearms.
I am one who believes in standing up for yourself and community. However, if nobody else wants to help and he is as dangerous as you say, I guess the only solution is to get the heck out of dodge. That is what I am doing. Of course, I just moved in here a month ago and it is not worth me spilling blood or defending a rental property that I have very little vested in. $3000 lease buy out fee is more than worth the court fees, pain, suffering, dealing with retaliation that taking down my neighbor would cost me.
Criminals have a community of other criminals who usually support them for their business interests or because of gang affiliation. If law abiding citizens are too afraid to stand up and defend their communities and the police are incompetent and/or just don't give a crap about protecting the communities and running out criminals, then you will be forced to go somewhere where you can be safe. Yes, this is why neighborhoods go downhill and turn into crime infested crapholes, because criminals end up running out all the good people and the bad people end up moving in and proliferating.
That is kind of what is happening to the subdivision I live in Huntersville. It was very nice and upscale with a good HOA when it first opened. Ten, things became mismanaged, the original builders went bankrupt, the new developers who took over started building multiple houses on single lots and making the area less desirable. People started selling off their property, crappy renters moved in, etc. The poilce in Huntersville have some very upscale communities to tend to and will just turn their eyes on the ones they feel have no importance them. Of course, by doing so they do not realize they are actually cultivating serious crime in their city that will eventually be harder to control. It sounds like where you live is becoming a similar situation.
I think you are best selling off your property, minimizing your losses and getting out. Taking on a car theft mafia by yourself will be no easy venture without the support of your community or the police.
Charlotte seems to be a city where you need a lot of money to get into areas where the police actually care about you and will be vigilant and defending neighborhood. THis one big inspiration for me moving away after only living here one month. I've never lived in a place for so short of time. I am going to move to Denver, Colorado, myself. There is good and bad in places like Denver, Seattle and Portland, but the good and bad is a little easier to distinguish. I'm still having a hard time figuring out Charlotte and its neighborhoods. I never seen such nice areas that are literally bordering or even encompassed by such crime-ridden areas.
It appears this guy is just openly operating a criminal enterprise and with little worry. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if some of the police are on his payroll and are looking out for him. I've never heard of a criminal enterprise operating so openly like this and in one location. The car theft mafias (many operated by Eastern Europeans) in the Pacific Northwest are very secretive and done in the utmost covert manner. Literally, even years later the police are unraveling businesses they thought that were respectable that turned out to be large scale auto theft and stolen merchandise rings. Seattle has one of the highest car theft and burglary rates in the country. Despite all this, you rarely see people openly operating criminal enterprises of that nature. It really makes me question the integrity of the government here.
I would have said I almost couldn't believe it, but my own neighbor I am told was openly dealing meth from the house next door, despite police surveillance. It doesn't appear he ever served any time for it or was even arrested for it. Seems like where he got caught in North Carolina was from him being unlucky and getting busted driving back at night high on meth, where he was found possessing illegal stuff.
Last edited by RotseCherut; 08-18-2018 at 03:34 PM..
An update. On Sunday night at about 10:30, I had just put out my garbage bin and was halfway up my driveway when I saw a police cruiser pull up to the guy's house and park on the street. He had no headlights or parking lights on as he approached the house.
The guy walked up to the cruiser, spoke to the policeman for a few minutes, and the cruiser drove off and turned on his headlights when he was about three houses away. Would there be a police report if this was part of the supposed investigation ? If so, when would it be available to me?
An update. On Sunday night at about 10:30, I had just put out my garbage bin and was halfway up my driveway when I saw a police cruiser pull up to the guy's house and park on the street. He had no headlights or parking lights on as he approached the house.
The guy walked up to the cruiser, spoke to the policeman for a few minutes, and the cruiser drove off and turned on his headlights when he was about three houses away. Would there be a police report if this was part of the supposed investigation ? If so, when would it be available to me?
Which one? The cop driving with his lights off or the guy across the street who has been arrested numerous times for auto theft and who shot up the neighborhood one night after he was let out of jail?
There's talk of confronting the neighborhood liaison officer at the next Neighborhood Watch meeting.
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