Eastport residents concerned about recent crime
But most don't participate in National Night Out
By HEATHER RAWLYK, Staff Writer
Whether the Maritime Republic of Eastport is a safe place to live depends on who's asked.
Flipping through a flier on community crime prevention during the 24th annual National Night Out event at City Dock last night, Annapolis resident Katherine Porter said 'no' - at least it hasn't been safe recently.
She is aware of two brutal robberies late last month and a spate of car burglaries. And now she won't walk to The Rockfish Restaurant at 400 Sixth St. or to Davis's Pub on Chester Avenue after dusk.
Two people, victims of separate robberies, were walking when they were attacked within one week of each other.
"It's scary to see these bright papers up talking about assaults and beatings of people," she said. "I'm getting a ride or taking a taxi at this point. No, I don't feel safe walking around at night anymore."
The robberies are the latest crimes this summer that have shaken up Eastport residents - enough to start a string of concerned e-mails and reward funds.
Some people have stopped walking to their destinations and have begun to lock their homes.
But Catherine Evans, who on Sunday night found herself face-to-face with a strange man sitting in her pickup in Eastport, said things could be worse.
And she still plans to move into the Fourth Street home she's been renovating the past six months.
Her neighbor, who used to live near Capitol Hill in Washington, agreed, saying things are much worse in the nation's capital.
At 11 p.m. Sunday, Ms. Evans' went outside to move her Dodge Ram when she found the man in her truck.
Ms. Evans screamed and the man got out and ran off.
The Eastport crime scare began July 24 after David Ansel Jr. was attacked from behind and robbed by a gang of men in Eastport as he walked from his job on the Woodwind. He was knocked unconscious and police said his jaw was possibly broken.
Seven days later and about two blocks away, Elizabeth Varr told police she also was attacked from behind while walking home from her job at the Annapolis Yacht Club.
Police said her attacker held her down - leading to several cuts and bruises - before stealing her bag and riding away on a bike.
Officer Hal Dalton, a city police spokesman, said police also are investigating four car break-ins that happened overnight July 29 on Boucher Avenue, and seven car break-ins overnight July 30 on President Point Drive. He didn't know if they were related to the muggings, but said the department is concerned.
And on Monday, a 31-year-old Arnold man told police he was assaulted and robbed just before midnight Sunday while walking in the 200 block of Duke of Gloucester Street in downtown Annapolis.
He said he was struck in the back of the head by one of four men, knocked to the ground, then punched and kicked. One of the men took cash from his pocket. The man said he walked to a nearby bar on Dock Street, and the next day he went to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries, police said.
Wary of the recent crime, city police now are sending additional officers to the Eastport Peninsula.
Residents said they have seen extra patrol cars driving through the community and parked in the Eastport Shopping Center.
Elaine Kahn said she often sees police ride in front of her Fourth Street home. It makes her feel safe, she said, but not safe enough to walk alone at night.
She doesn't carry a purse when she walks around town either, she said. She hasn't done so for the past two years.
Mrs. Kahn's neighbor, Dinah Ostenso, made changes to her routine a couple of months ago after two of her family's cars were broken into while parked outside her home.
She has lived in the home for four years and says she's only recently started feeling the community isn't as safe as it was when she moved in.
It is irritating, Mrs. Ostenso said, to invest so much in a home and have crime in the streets.
While she used to feel safe with her doors unlocked, Mrs. Ostenso now keeps the porch lights on from dusk until morning, and makes sure to lock the house and car doors at all times.
Through e-mails, residents have voiced their concerns and offered safety tips to each other.
"We are afraid in our homes and in our neighborhood," wrote Frieda Wildey. "...I would ask that everyone try to turn on their outside lights and leave them on all night."
Another e-mail encouraged residents to participate in the National Night Out event last night, and show support by turning on their porch lights and sitting on their porch.
At the event at City Dock there was information available to residents about community crime prevention. Hot dogs, games, police-themed activity books for children, and a performance by the Naval Academy Band also drew in a crowd.
Still, many Eastport residents did not know about the event when The Capital asked them last night.
But Officer Dalton said he spoke to some Eastport residents at the event, and has been included in several e-mails from community members.
"Seems they have formed an informal e-mail group and are networking - they are expressing the very essences of Neighborhood Watch, saying things such as they have to help the police and watch out for each other," he said. "(They're) preparing themselves mentally should they be crime witnesses or victims, securing their own property and homes as much as possible and above all being alert - they are sharing a lot of information."
And they're pulling together.
Last week, Eastport residents and business owners put up $5,000 in rewards in hopes of stemming the violence.
The Eastport Business Association Board last night kicked in $1,000 to the reward pool as did the Eastport Civic Association the night before, according to Dick Franyo, owner of Boatyard Bar and Grill.
While the crimes are scary, Ms. Evans said some good has come out of them.
She has gotten to know a lot of her neighbors, she said, and everyone is looking out for each other - exactly what she's looking for in a community.
