Long Reach Area in Columbia: Wear your fastest running shoes!

[GoGoGadget]

I work in an office building very near Long Reach.

There are townhouses across the street and at night I see drug deals on a regular basis. Glad I live in AA county...

 

[Dirichlet]

I agree with Jay1234. Send someone in there armed to the teeth and not afraid to use what they have. See how many of those little punks run for the hills when their friend is looking down the barrel. Makes me think of this scene (except switch out useless urban trash for the Clanton Gang)
http://youtu.be/co5xVHsMRV0?t=25s

 

[SIU317]

I used to work Long Reach with HOCO and nothing seems to have changed. HOCO does have gang problems, they just don't want to admit it. Even a decade ago they had ms-13, and local gang graffiti all over the place. The leadership will say the locals aren't a gang, just bored kids playing wannabe but that's BS. These kids are just as dangerous even if they aren't affiliated with a national gang set. And the footpath system is perfect for committing crime...they're dark and allow free movement between areas without being scene by officers who rarely got out of their cruisers to perform foot patrols. Ah, the land of milk and honey that is Howard County.

 

[zoostation]

Maryland and Howard County Courts are too soft on Juveniles and violent crime. Why release the juveniles to their guardians?

You can thank the state Department of Juvenile "Justice" for that. They will not place juveniles charged with anything but the most serious of serious crimes. I had to deal with them all the time as a shift commander before I retired. A lot of juvenile issues require the police to get in touch with DJJ, especially if they can't get in contact of a parent or guardian within 6 hours (very common with juveniles under arrest). Their case workers (and I use the word "workers" loosely) wouldn't even answer their state-provided cell phones after 4PM, let alone be inconvenienced by having to come out to a police station and write up a placement for a juvenile. Whenever I did manage to get in touch with one, all I ever heard was a boatload of bad attitude and excuses for why they weren't going to do anything.

I'm not one to make blanket statements about public employees, since I was one and had to hear them too for many years. But Maryland DJJ has to be the most lazy group of state employees I ever dealt with.

That being said, it's not all the case workers' faults. The state has a lot of policies in place that keep the poor little darlings from being committed to a juvenile institution on charges that are anything less than full fledged armed robbery with a firearm. Anything less than that, and even if they do place them after an arrest, it will probably be in a foster type home, not a secure facility.

 

[gridybrah]

had no idea the long reach area was that rough.

 

[rbird7282]

If half of the crap that goes on in Columbia was reported in the Columbia newspaper, the town would be empty.

 

[babalooie21204]

Nah, the thugs would say we "racially profiled them"

 

[pbharvey]

Just found out a friend had his Columbia home burglarized over the weekend. They stole two handguns, jewelry, and savings bonds.

 

[mazinger]

well, it's the older section of longreach that's getting rough. the other side of snowden seems fine with housing prices on the upswing.

 

[SKIP]

Just found out a friend had his Columbia home burglarized over the weekend. They stole two handguns, jewelry, and savings bonds.

6600 FARBELL ROW, 7/19 1030-1230: It appears entry was made into the residence via an UNLOCKED REAR WINDOW. The house was ransacked. Two pistols, jewelry and U.S. savings bonds were stolen. 13-69721

 

[Maverick0313]

Long Reach is also a gang banger area now. Not a good place to be. Columbia still tries to mimimize bad press to keep the utopia idea alive.

 

[wheelgun]

Long Reach is also a gang banger area now. Not a good place to be. Columbia still tries to mimimize bad press to keep the utopia idea alive.

Columbia is utopia if you're a liberal or a criminal. Sorry, that was kinda redundant.

 

[NHaze]

I graduated LR HS in '05. This all sounds about right. Let's just say that after my highschool experience, walking through North Ave & Pennsylvania Ave in Baltimore at 1 AM doesn't really phase me.
Screw Howard county, as much as it pains me to say that, western HOCO was beautiful when I was a kid.

 

[HiballHiside]

Police arrest teens in Long Reach street robbery, burglaries
Additional arrests expected
Howard County police have arrested four suspects, including three 15-year-old boys, in connection with a Long Reach street robbery and a series of residential burglaries in the same area.
Milton M. Montgomery, 18, of 8233 Tamar Meadow St., Columbia, was charged with two counts of robbery, two counts of second-degree assault, and one count of theft. The two 15 year olds, also from Columbia, were each charged with robbery, second-degree assault and theft. Their names are not being released due to their juvenile status.
On July 6, at 11:39 p.m. police were dispatched to a robbery in progress in the 6100 block of Old Dobbin Lane. Two victims told police they were walking across the parking lot on the side of the school when they were encircled by a group of seven to nine males. One of the suspects punched one of the victims, resulting in both victims running to flee the area. Both victims were chased by the suspects onto a ball field, where one victim fell and was punched. One of the suspects reached into the victim’s pocket and stole his wallet, which contained foreign currency, credit cards and a student identification card. The victims ran off and the suspects ran in another direction into a wooded area.
Through investigation, police also learned that the victim’s stolen credit card was used at a nearby gas station the day after the robbery. Surveillance video showed a group of five young males who fit the description of the group of males from the July 6 robbery. Through investigation, police identified the suspects and they were arrested over the weekend. Montgomery is being held in the Howard County Detention Center on $40,000 bond. The three juveniles were released to their guardians.
In addition, Montgomery and one of the 15-year-old boys arrested in the Old Dobbin Lane street robbery, along with another 15-year-old boy, also from Columbia, were charged with multiple burglaries in the Long Reach area. The burglaries, which took place on Airybrink Lane, Tamebird Court, Cobblefield Drive and Cloudleap Court, occurred mostly overnight where the suspects gained entry through rear sliding glass doors and targeted electronics and cash.
Additional arrests and charges in relation to other robberies and burglaries in Long Reach and the Columbia Lakefront area are expected.
###

You can either prepare yourself to be a victim or you can prepare your own defense. It frustrates me to no end that people don't take their own safety seriously. At what point do you stand up and start throwing punches & kicks back after they keep following you. Furthermore, if these people would have tried to defend themselves, I could see a "child abuse" suit filed.

 

[pbharvey]

Ho hum, another day in Columbia.

cell-phone-store-robbed-by-two-armed-men

The men entered Multi Cell in the 8700 block of Cloudleap Court with their faces covered and forced customers to back of the store, said police. One man went to the counter and drew a handgun, pointed it at the clerk, and stole three cell phones as he leaned over the counter, according to police.

Police provided the following suspect descriptions:

Suspect 1: Black male, 5-foot-10, between 130-150 pounds, who had short dreadlocks, wearing a maroon shirt and a dust mask.
Suspect 2: Black male, 5-foot-10, between 130-150 pounds, wearing a black shirt, khaki shorts and a dust mask, with short hair.

Hopefully, someone will wise up and outlaw dust masks so we can put an end to this madness.

 

[Mr H]

I have a 20-ct box of dust masks. Will that be legal, or do I need to start buying 10-ct???

 

[DoubleTap007]

You read about stuff like this and can't help but to think about the whole Zimmerman thing. Shit, if I lived in this area I would be very careful as to the people walking around.

 

[CorpsmanUp]

You know what the problem is?

Parents don't whoop their kid's asses anymore.

I feared my father's weight belt. That ****er could do some damage.

Didn't take long for me to figure out don't do stupid shit or there would be hell to pay.

I can't see me whooping my 2 yo daughter's ass anytime soon, but a good spanking never hurt anyone.

 

[elwojo]

You know what the problem is?

Parents aren't around anymore.

FTFY. This isn't for fear of retribution; it's for lack of compassion. No amount of ass whooping will teach someone that.

I only got whooped a few times by my dad - but I feared his disappointment more than his belt. Kids need a person to look up to in order to understand what is important in life. And you can do that without beating them.

These kids don't have parents, family, or friends to look up to as decent citizens. Somehow we need to get around to fixing that...

 

[BigSteve57]

Ho hum, another day in Columbia.

cell-phone-store-robbed-by-two-armed-men



Hopefully, someone will wise up and outlaw dust masks so we can put an end to this madness.

Only the police and military...

Oh forget it.