Below is the text of an email I received today about a very threatening incident last night. Please be aware of what is going on and watch out for your neighbors;
I live in Woodland Heights on 22nd Street and last weekend (8/14) someone came into my yard and tried to steal my grill. For whatever reason they did not complete their task. I’m not sure if it had something to do with the backdoor light being turned on in order to let my dog out or if they were just unable to get through the back gate that they entered through because of a tree limb that had come down during a recent storm. However, when they left the yard and their would-be mission they left the back gate open and my dog got out. Thanks to the help of my neighbors, my dog is back home safe and sound. …..and my grill and gates are now locked up.

Now fast forward to last night (8/20)…. at approximately 1:30 a.m. I heard my neighbors yelling at someone in the space between our two houses. When I went outside to see if everything was ok I was told that we had some more shady people in the neighborhood. This time one of them was bold enough to walk up to my neighbors and their friends while they were hanging out on their front porch and ask if they could use a cell phone. Being the nice people that they are….they gave him one to use. This person stepped away from the porch to use the phone. While the guy was on the phone, my neighbors realized that this guy had a knife and that he seemed to be communicating with a group of 5 or 6 people that were at the Valero gas station on the corner. Feeling very uncomfortable about this, my neighbors asked the guy to leave. He proceeded to try and go in and through their backyard. When they told him not to, he then jumped over my fence and ran through my backyard. At this point, the police were called and a brief description of the guy was given.

The group of people at the Valero eventually crossed Semmes Ave and went towards the trailer park. They then hid in the woods on the other side of the fence line and watched as several police cars drove by looking for the guy that’s description had been given to dispatch. When they realized that the police weren’t “looking for them” they started yelling things at our group trying to instigate a fight. One of the things that I heard them say was “this isn’t over yet!” This makes me very uneasy as it tells me that they have no intention of backing down until they steal whatever it is that they want.

Eventually a couple of police cars came back to our street. When they did we spoke at length with the night supervisor for the 3rd Precinct. He told us that there have been several break-ins in the neighborhood in the last three weeks. He specifically mentioned sheds being broken into and being completely wiped out as well as grills and bikes being stolen. He obviously recommended that anything that could be should be locked up. He also said that they are clearly aware of what is going on and have several units assigned to our area on a daily/nightly basis. That being said…..the area for the 3rd precinct covers from the fan/VCU area to Woodland Heights, Westover Hills and off of Jahnke towards Midlothian. He encouraged us to call if we see anything out of the ordinary and at this point not to feel like it’s too insignificant to deal with. And he said that it was important if at all possible to leave a phone number for the police to call back in case a full description of the suspicious character is not relayed properly via dispatch. They promised that our phone numbers would be remain confidential.

From the Woodland Heights Yahoo Group;
The committee planning this year’s Woodland Heights Holiday House tour for December 5, met last night and decided if we do not get at least 5 more neighbors to be on the tour, we will have to cancel it this year. This is the only fund raising activity the association has so if we do not have it, we will have to severely cut back on funding such items as tree planting, new signage, participation and support for Music in the Park, etc. Please consider putting your house on the tour. Your house does not have to look like a magazine showplace but reflect the diverse and unique homes in our area.

If you would like to help the neighborhood out by being on the tour, please email me at vsteinruck@vaco.org or call me at 233-7121 in the evenings or at work at 343-2501. We have until Sept 15 to come up with houses or we will have to pull the plug on the event this year. Thanks in advance.

On Sunday a red female pitbull was spotted on Stonewall. Today she was seen in the woods near Chesterfield and 30th. The dog has no collar, appears to have recently had a litter and is very skittish. All the information above was gathered from the Woodland Heights Yahoo Group.

National Night Out is an event to promote community involvement and interaction with local police to make our neighborhoods safer. There are several events going on in our neighborhoods and I am listing them below. If I missed one, please let me know and I’ll either add it to the list or post it separately.

Woodland Heights and Forest Hill neighborhoods are teaming up for a National Night Out Shredding Party to be held on August 3rd from 5-8pm at the Forest Hill Presbyterian Church. There will be ice cream available for all to enjoy.

Shredding Party Flyer (click for full size)

From The Forest Facebook page;

The Forest has registered for “National Night Out” on Tuesday August 3rd!! We will be having a cookout in the parking lot w/ lots of other fun stuff.. Save that evening on your calendar and get ready to have a great time w/ your friends and neighbors!!! starting @ 7pm!! Please feel free to submit your ideas on making this an even better event!!

I know that the Richmond Police will be at the Target on Forest Hill but I am a little short on information for that event. I’ll post more information as I get it.

This is Atticus. He is about 6 1/2 months old. He has his shots and has been neutered. We are in the process of training him. He is a very smart and affectionate pup. He needs to be with an owner that will love him back. He absolutely gets along with people and other dogs. Because he is a puppy and is used to being with someone most of the day he is happier when not alone. He is very attentive.

Anyone interested in Atticus can call Wendy at 804-467-6422 or email me at: wendyumanoff@comcast.net

I received two email on the little guy above.

There is a very sweet, young stray dog that has taken up residence in the bushes between my house and the neighbor’s for about a week now. He has no collar or other identification and he is not neutered. He is probably between one and two years old and weighs approximately 35-40 pounds. He has “adopted” my family and me in that he will follow us around the neighborhood when we take our son and dog for a walk and he sleeps on the porch at night sometimes. It appears that he has been chased a lot so he is wary of people in that fashion but it isn’t difficult to win his trust. He is very affectionate, non-aggressive, and is simply craving love and shelter but we cannot keep him due to the bio-mass constraints of our house (one boy, another on the way, dog, cat, fish, spiders, etc.).

The second email says much the same about the dogs personality and also that he has become friendly enough with one resident to be captured and Animal Control has been notified. Thanks to Scott and Joe for sending me the info and for looking out for the dog.

Woodland Heights Baptist Church (31st and Springhill) will hold an Independence Celebration Ice Cream Social Saturday, July 3, from 3 until 5 p.m. at the church (on the lawn on the 31st Street side). All our friends from the neighborhood are invited to join us for some cool refreshment, and to listen to the “Have Strings Will Play Band” who will be performing during the festivities.

Tuesday, June 29 is the last meeting for the summer of the Woodland Heights Civic Association. The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the Woodland Heights Baptist Church. Representatives from Parks and Recreation and the police as well as the area’s councilman will also attend. Items that will be discussed include problems at Fonticello Park and the current spate of crime hitting the neighborhoods.

Forwarded to me by Shannon, the Forest Hill Neighborhood Watch Coordinator. The incidents below took place in Woodland Heights;

Last Thursday (6/24) morning my husband saw a blue Geo Tracker with a trailer behind it driving through the alley behind our house at about 6:20 am (Riverside between 29th and 30th). He called the police, and my husband followed the Geo in his car. He saw the vehicle as it made its way though numerous alleys in the neighborhood. It had no front license plate, but the back plate was ZSA 8753.

This morning (Monday 6/28) my husband saw the same blue Geo Tracker with trailer drive through our alley again at 6:15 am. He called the police again. He did not get the plate this time.

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The hits keep coming. Details from the Woodland Heights Yahoo Group, these incidents took place last night;

My neighbor was held up at gunpoint while walking on W. 31st at Chesterfield, this evening at about 10:05 PM. Two young black males, wearing black, one with a navy ski mask, stopped my friend and asked for her money while showing a handgun. She convinced them she had no money (she really didn’t) and turned and walked away. At one point she looked back and they were walking in the opposite direction on Chesterfield (towards 32nd). When she got home she called the nonemergency (!) police number and 4 cars responded to her.

Other than the shock, amazement and anger at what happened, my
neighbor is fine.

Then we have this one that took place around 10:15.

This isn’t really how we wanted to introduce ourselves. We just moved into the 700 block of W 32nd Street a couple of weeks ago, and I just arrived tonight from my parents’ house with a bunch of stuff we’d had in storage there. I was inside with the kids and dog, and while my husband Tony was unloading stuff from the car, he was approached by two young black men wearing caps down over their eyes. They robbed him by gunpoint. He didn’t have his wallet, but they took his inscribed wedding ring, and headed back up towards Semmes on 32nd (also the direction from which they came). The police just arrived. Stay inside and stay safe.

Not sure if this is related but seems like it easily could be.

We are so sorry to hear this about your family and the lady who was on 31st. Our family was taking our dog on a walk around the block at around 10:10 ish. (We live on 32nd St.) As we rounded the corner to head up to 33rd, we heard three consecutive gunshots so decided to head home. We are not sure if these are the same people. It sounded like it was coming from behind 33rd St. around Semmes…..

There have been quite a few new trees added to Semmes but there is an ongoing problem. A newly planted tree needs to be well watered as gets established. To solve that problem “Treegator Bags“, those green bags you see at the base, are used. The bag is filled with water and keeps the tree hydrated. The problem is that a good number of these bags have gone missing or have not been getting filled with water as a result the trees are beginning to suffer. The WHCA is working with True Timber to help with the keeping the bags full. However some, particularly those planted last year and the larger ones from this year that don’t have bags can use some personal attention. If you live near Semmes or just enjoy the trees on you drive to work consider adopting a tree and making sure it get the water it needs. One suggestion for Diane on the WH Yahoo Group “If you want to adopt, I suggest you just take the neediest looking ones. Perhaps you could tape a small sign on the tree “adopted by…” and post the address on egroups.”

This issue was brought to my attention by several posts on the Woodland Heights Yahoo Group.

From the Woodland Heights Yahoo Group;

Looking for my small, sweet corgi/mutt mix. Short, stocky, 15 lbs stub tail,
friendly- no collar- yes I know, I am an idiot–it makes him break out in a
rash.

Please call if you see- the manny lost him yesterday morning around 11am.

Thank you,
Jamie Bradshaw
387-5398

From Woodland Heights Yahoo Group;

Both my next door neighbor and I had our cars broken into on the 2900 block of Riverside drive between 10:15 pm last night (Friday) and 8:45 am today (Saturday).

Both vehicles were locked and parked in the alley behind our homes. They smashed our windows to gain access to the cars. They went through our glove compartments and stole some small items. They attempted to steal my neighbor’s car stereo and cut themselves in the process leaving blood in both his vehicle and mine.

We both contacted the police to file reports. A police officer arrived within 15 minutes to take our reports and will be coming back to take take samples of the blood.
I am hearing now that the neighbor on the other side of my home may have had items stolen from their vehicle as well.

Reports of incidents that have happened over the weekend. The first one I don’t have an address on but both come to us from the Woodland Heights Yahoo Group;

Most of my 10×20′ canopy, was stolen off my car, off the alley, last Wednesday night so if anyone sees something like it please give me a call.
It had white tarps with white tubular poles that breakdown into about four foot lengths, still in the original cardboard box.
The loser that stole it only got the poles and tarps, not the connecting brackets, so it is basically useless without them. Thanks in advance for keeping an eye out.

And a shed break-in on W. 33rd;

I am sorry to hear about your canopy. The crime in this area is really disconcerting. Sunday evening- or perhaps during the day on Monday- someone broke into our shed and stole some electrical equipment. My husband noticed that it was gone last night. We also noticed that the door to the shed that opens into our yard was open and that our blackberry bushes that are on the inside of our 6 foot privacy fence were trampled. It looks like someone actually had the guts to jump our fence and walk around into the shed and take what they wanted. The rear of the shed facing the alley is locked. We called the police and filed a report– they were very nice and came out to the house last night.

Additionally there were around a dozen gunshots heard Friday night near W. 30th that were heard by several people.

From the Woodland Height Yahoo Group, incident occurred on W 33rd;

Last night (wed) between 11 pm and 5 am someone went through both of our cars– they only stole change — and an empty Starbucks card (ha ha). Both cars were unlocked…Lock your car doors! Such a bummer.

Update – Report of a 2nd break-in was posted to the group;

My son’s Toyota was ransacked last night and lots was taken..hes on the end of 32nd St. Not sure how they’re getting in…He was certain he’d locked it….Always does.

The following is from Diana Scully and I want to clarify that the subsidized program mentioned in the second paragraph is only open to residents of the Woodland Heights neighborhood. Folks in other neighborhoods can still contact the city about the Adopt a Tree Program but would have to pay the $25 fee themselves.

As chair of the Woodland Heights Tree Committee, I’ve been keeping a close eye on the trees WHCA planted on Semmes Ave–they are all doing well. However, members of the Committee and I have noticed that some of the green watering bags have been removed. This is a problem because without the watering bags we cannot properly water the trees this summer. The trees and watering bags are on city land and were paid for by WHCA. They do not belong to individuals although individuals are certainly welcome to hep us keep the trees watered. If you have have removed a bag, or know someone who has, please help us get the bags returned to its tree.

Now for the opportunity. At our meeting last night, WHCA approved $2,500 for 2010 tree planting on interior Woodland Heights streets in connection with Richmond’s Adopt-a-Tree Program. WHCA will subsidize individuals who wish to plant a curbside tree in front or or adjacent to their house and agree to maintain the tree by watering as necessary. The City charge for adopting-a-tree is $50 tree and includes planting and watering bag. WHCA will subsidize $25 of the City’s charge. The trees will be the same quality and size as those planted on Semmes and will include a watering bag. Individuals will have a choice of tree type as appropriate for their site to be determined by a city arborist. The program will be administered by the Woodland Heights Tree Committee. More details, application forms and deadlines will be forthcoming.

This is a rare opportunity to have a tree planted in front/adjacent to your house for only $25 and participate in the beautification of Woodland Heights.
Diana Scully
Chair, WHCA Tree Committee

From the Woodland Heights Yahoo Group we hear that a brick house that is currently for sale in the 500 block of W 26th St. was broken into yesterday and the copper pipes were taken. The preliminary police report is stating that kitchen cabinets and a sink were also snagged. As always keep your eye out for suspicious activity including houses that are for sale or being built.

According to the city website Westover Hills/Forest Hill/Woodland Heights will have the trucks come through and do another round of leaf pickups starting next Monday. I am not seeing a lot of leaves down on the street only on the trees currently.

This clean-up has already occurred in Stratford Hills and Westover Garden. Did any of readers in those neighborhoods see whether it was the big leaf vacuum trucks or just the normal street cleaning trucks?

Posted on the Woodland Heights Yahoo Group page;
Hi Neighbors,
On Sunday, April 18 Woodland Heights Baptist Church will celebrate 100 years. It is amazing that we have been a part of this community that long. As the neighborhood has changed, we have tried to change with it and we are looking to the future to find ways in which we can help our neighborhood stay a wonderful place to live.

Sunday we will celebrate with many former members who will return. We have asked our present members to park further away from the church so that we can have the parking lot open to our returning guest. With close to 500 people expected, we know we will be using many parking spaces in the neighborhood and hope you will understand if your favorite parking spot may be taken. Our
celebration will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will be over around 2:00 p.m. The morning worship service will begin at 10:30 and we would like to invite you to come and be a part of the celebration.

Thanking you in advance for any inconvenience you may be caused by our celebration.

Bill and Jeanne Vickery

From the Woodland Heights Yahoo Group;

Happened tonight (Friday -ed.) 8ish. White male trying to enter through my front door. fyi.. my home faces forest hill avenue. Be on the look out…dont know what his goal was BUT…

WHITE MALE, DEMIN JEANS, JORDAN SNEAKERS, DARK NY CAP. HE RAN UP BROAD ROCK TOWARDS MIDLOTHIAN AFTER HE REALIZED SOME ONE HEARD HIM ( I GUESS). PRAISE GOD.

From the Woodland Heights Yahoo Group;

This one occurred yesterday near 28th & Semmes;

About 6:30 this evening, we hear the car horn sounding from the
garage. We went out and discovered someone had started cutting the
convertible top. They didn’t get in, and didn’t get anything, but we
thought people might want to know. We filed a police report, but had
nothing in the way of a description to pass on.

Broad daylight – very bold.

This one occurred early this morning on W. 33rd;

Sometime between 3:30 and 5:30am this morning, someone broke into my shed by cutting the chain w/lock and stole my lawnmower. Other things may be gone, too, but I will wait until more light to check. I have reported this crime to the police.

Turns out the lawnmower was not stolen just hidden in the shed.

Our friendly (this is only speculation at this point and should not be accepted as fact) neighborhood coyote was spotted in the Woodland Heights neighborhood tonight. The critter was spotted in the alley on W 25th Street. Don’t forget your cat and smaller dog could be a tasty morsel for these opportunistic feeders. Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries info on the coyote. Thanks to Stephanie & David who posted the info to the Woodland Heights Yahoo Group.

In case you didn’t see the signs it appears that leaf pickup is back on for next week. The city website confirms that Westover Hills/Forest Hill/Woodland Heights leaf pickup will happen between Mar 1, 2010 – Mar 5, 2010. If the past is any indicator this is a sure sign that we will get either a ton of snow or torrential rains on those dates.

Sorry for the last minute notice but the Woodland Heights Civic Association meets at 7pm, Tues.
Feb. 23rd (tonight) at WH Baptist Church-31st & Springhill. Meet the new President Vicky Steinruck & hear updates on neighborhood news.

We were first introduced to Officer Rogers back in November and then in December he shared his contact information. Today RTD has an article that includes pictures.

Rollins thinks Rogers’ presence will help deter crime, such as vandalism and vehicle break-ins in parking lots, as well as potentially more serious offenses. “It gives us the feeling that the people who want to do that are on notice,” he said. “They don’t have free reign.”

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