TalkBack: Papa John's Holdup Indicative Of A Pattern?

Patch's weekly crime reports, , are generally well read.

But one recent report stood out.

It during the last week in March.

That report prompted San Leandro resident Matthew Beall to post his own story about that involved his son.

"The E. 14th corridor between Oakland and Bay Fair mall needs more patrols, increased police surveillance and more arrests of people carrying guns walking through our town," Beall wrote.

Patch passed Beall's observations on to San Leandro Police department spokesperson Sergeant Bob Sanchez to see if there was a trend.

"I did some research about the robberies and I don't see any specific trends in any areas," Sanchez told Patch.

There were six holdups on the East 14th Street corridor during February and March, but no particular area between Oakland and Bay Fair seems to have been targeted, he said.

Sanchez also offered more details on the dozen robberies listed in the Patch report on April 2nd.

One actually occurred in Oakland. Two were purse snatches. A fourth was a high school fight in which a cell phone was taken. Three more were alleged shoplifting incidents in which suspects fought with security guards, elevating the crimes to robberies.

Two of the 12 were "strongarm" holdups -- involving a physical threat but no weapon.

Three of the incidents, including the robbery at Papa John's, involved the brandishing of firearms.

None of this is meant to minimize the seriousness of the crimes, particularly to the victims. It is merely to put the numbers into context.

When police do see a pattern of activity, as was the case in a recent rash of robberies that started in the Estudillo neighborhood, they focused a response that .

In any event, thanks to Matthew Beall for raising this issue. He took advantage of the ability available to any Patch reader, to write and post an announcement that is essentially a mini story.

If this or any other crime issue concerns you, Tuesday morning police will hold another where you can ask questions directly.

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