Problem Teenagers

Has anyone had problems with teenagers in the Vestals Gap area? They continue to come by and ring our bell but run away before we get to them. Nothing serious enough to call police.

 

Yes, we have two incidents , last Saturday at 2:00am and Wednesday nightaround 10pm, with Fireworks on the porch. I went out the back and I think they ran down the Trails. Both times I had the proch light on and an inside lights.

Are you near a trail for a quick avenue of escape?

 

We are about a block from the the Trailside path. My husband thinks they run along side our house and into the tree save area next door. Wow...2 am, must have scared you. What are kids doing out at that time of night. They are real smart either, there is some weird prowler in the Ashburn/Leesburg area.

 

I am having trouble with this as well. It happened at around 10pm on Thursday evening. In the process, they damaged the flowers in my flower bed! I also have issues with kids using my yard as a path to the shopping center off of Chickacoan! I will putting up a fence in the near future, so hopefully that is no longer an issue! (Yes, i will be going through the HOA for approvals)

 

Same here. 11:45 pm last Sunday. Beer being stolen from garage refrigerators, numerous cars being broken into and now this. Aren't we supposed to have a security service driving around the area? If so what company? We certainly haven't seen any.

By the way, where are the parents?

 

Yes, we have security. Yes, we've had measurable results with them. No, they can't patrol every garage refrigerator, miles and miles of trails, miles and miles of streets, and multiple buildings every minute of the day.

I echo and support your last question about the parents. Unfortunately, far too many of us refuse to want to deal with the reality that all our children are not angels all the time. The degree that many go to ignore, cover up, or deny what their children are doing absolutely amazes me.

 

I appreciate that security can't patrol all of these places all the time, nor do I expect them to. Are they in marked vehicles? If so, I have yet to see one. Echoboy works late and has never see one either.

 

At about 7:00 am I ran into some police who said a lot of cars had been robbed in that same area.

 

Echogirl and Vacliff,

I feel the same way about what you are saying; where are the parents and why does there seem to be such a lack of respect of other peoples property from these kids. Let me say that i am not generalizing about all the kids in the neighborhood, just this select bunch. My neighbor, my wife, and i were in our yards speaking, and this little teen kid just walks through our yards and between our conversation and does not even acknowledge our very existence. We were so stunned and angered that we could not even bring ourselves to say anything to them without causing a really bad seen. But this is the disrespect that i speak of, and this ALL starts at home. Anyway, we need a solution to the thefts and vandilism as i am sure we all didn't move to this wonderful neighborhood to have it become a place we loathe. Just my $.02.

 

they do have 1 marked vehicle that they use for most patrols but not all. They have certain areas that they focus on based on passed activity and where the HOA has asked for extra patrols however they do try to cover the entire neighborhood at least once a night. If you or any one else is dealing with a specific problem you can call me at the Nature Center (ask to leave a message for Staci) and let me know where and approx when you are having issues and I can ask security to increase patrols in an area. So far most of the areas we have increased have seen a decrease in activity.

Staci

 

The kids just came up Vestals Gap again tonight - about 9:15pm - they did our house and our neighbor.

Also, earlier today some young boys in a compact white sedan were going back and forth in front of our house and our neighbor for about 5mins. Seemed like high school junior/senior ages.

 

Thanks for the info Staci.

We saw a group yesterday, late evening, along Chicacoan. 3 teenage guys ran up the street to meet up with 1 guy and 2 girls at Ellzey. Right before that, a car of teenagers drove past us and screamed F--- You. LOVELY, but not nearly as bad as Kaosdad's recent experience (under Neighborhood Watch topic).

Hopefully some of this will die down when school starts!

 

It's been 2 nights in a row that teenagers have been ringing the doorbell and throwing rocks at our front door and run. We called the sherrif's office (I know it doesn't seem that serious but when you have small kids at home it's not funny anymore) just to alert them and they told me noone has reported such acitvity. We live off of Chickacoan Trail Drive and they run towards Songbird Court. There were 5 teenagers.

 

And therein lies the real danger - escalation. All it takes is someone to get a little too freaked out and :sniper:

"It's all fun and games until someone looses an eye."

 

calling the non emergency number really works- if they get a cluster of calls in a specific area, they DO step up patrols.

 

We've never had this problem, and I hardly ever see teens out and about in the community. So, thanks for putting this information out there. Hopefully, the parents of these kids will see these reports and actually keep track of their kids.

 

One word: tripwire

 

I have seen them and spoken with them quite a bit, whenever I get a chance I thank them for their service. I think it has helped alot.

 

On Friday Night 08/23/08 unlocked cars were rummaged through and things were stolen (gps devices and whatnot) on Welby Terrace. Thankfully I had my car locked. However when I came out at 6:30 AM on saturday morning, the cops were outside knocking on doors and asking people to check their cars and get stories. The only thing i could tell them is that my dog started barking at 2AM. However ... they tend to bark at ANYTHING - so I paid it no attention.

I don't know if this is an odd connection but I did see 4 teenagers on bikes riding around on friday afternoon that I had never seen before and they kept making rounds on our street. I have yet to see them again.

I personally believe that it was probably teenagers that broke in (whether or not the ones on the bike ... could be an odd coincidence), because they only went for the easy vehicles.

LOCK YOUR CARS!!!