Braewood

Crime in Braewood?

Aug 10, 2007

On July 10th, 2007 I met with Detective Tom Curd, Criminal Investigations, Cibolo Police Department. I was looking for crime information in Braewood so that I could pass this information on to the neighborhood in our newsletter.

Thankfully, Detective Curd could not find any instances of theft, burglary, or any other type of crime Braewood. He asked that residents stay alert and report anything that looks suspicious or out of the ordinary. He also said that many of the minor crimes and vandalism in the area are crimes of opportunity and often committed by teenagers late at night. If you see a group of teens walking around or just hanging out give the police a call, and they will do a courtesy drive by just to make the kids aware of their presence.

Below I have included some other information that will hopefully give you a reason to stop and think and be more aware of the people we see walking around the neighborhood. The first item was taken from the Jonas Woods subdivision newsletter in Schertz. The second item is a letter that was written by an acquaintance about an incident that happened to him a couple of years ago.

The Jonas Wood Newsletter, November 2006:
Safety Committee Update

- On Saturday, October 21st, between 9:30 and 10:30pm a house on Ginsberg Drive was burglarized. The residents were out to dinner. Thieves broke the window to the back door and took clothes, jewelry, a cell phone and a computer monitor. Between 9:30 and 10:00pm a neighbor was standing on his back steps and thought he heard three gunshots. He noticed nothing else out of the ordinary. That evening, at a few minutes past 10:00, another neighbor?’s doorbell rang. His wife had just left to go out. When he answered the door, there was a woman in her late teens/early 20s at the door and she asked if Julie was home. When he told her there was no Julie here, she said "oops" and turned around and walked away. He recalled that she didn?’t have a car. This woman was about 5' 6", 110 120 lbs, dark hair, pulled back in a pony tail. She also had a large tattoo on her neck that was a thin line in a spiral shape.
- That following Monday, a neighbor told me that she had spotted the white Chevy Malibu we posted in the last newsletter (TX Lic # 678 GKR) out on the highway. The neighbor pulled up to see what the guy who was driving it looked like. The "guy" turned out to be a girl with a tattoo on her neck.
- This doesn't sound like a coincidence. Here's what we know and what I discussed with Schertz Police Department (SPD):
- The details of both recent break-ins are remarkably similar - back door glass broken and used as entry/exit. The type of glass used in these back doors is also somewhat resilient, and the sound of breaking it is consistent with a gunshot. The items taken from the homes are also similar.
- Both houses backed up to Maske Road, which is apparently where the getaway vehicle was parked.
- The thieves are likely watching the houses. They wait for someone to leave, then knock on the door to see if anyone else is home. The house that was burglarized had lights left on and the TV on. The thieves felt so comfortable they would not be interrupted that they helped themselves to sodas.
- Since a suspicious vehicle was parked at different areas of the neighborhood at different times both day and night, and since a similar-described person was seen in the area of the break-in and driving the suspicious vehicle, it would indicate more than a coincidence.
- I encourage EVERYONE to report ANY suspicious behavior to the SPD and SEND ME an e-mail with the details so I can compile the information. If anyone has information on the white Malibu, the girl with the tattoo, or anything else that has happened out of the ordinary regarding suspicious persons or behaviors, please send me a note. Also, when you leave your house, look around and see if anyone is "hanging around" or parked within eyesight to see you leave.
- One last observation ?– a few weeks ago, my wife noticed a man walking door-to-door on Frank Baum. He was ringing doorbells and looking into the houses. When he arrived at my house, I asked him what he was selling, and he said "nothing," that he was just working on talking with people without using slang, and was asking "positive, successful" people how they became positive and successful. I asked him if he had a permit from the city to go door-to-door, and he said he didn't know he had to have one (a lie I found out later, since a resident had told him that just a few minutes earlier). When I told him that he couldn't be here without a permit and that the police were probably on the way, he became belligerent with me. He then held up his list of names of "positive" people from the neighborhood who he said had signed his book. He continued down the street for a short distance before the police showed up, asked him for ID and directed him to leave. I found out I was not the first to call and report him to the SPD (a great thing!). From a "Force Protection" standpoint, I discovered that he 1.) knows who is not home at that time of day, 2.) knows who has a dog(s) in their home, 3.) has a list where he can annotate this information, 4.) knows whatever "positive, successful" personal information the residents on the list chose to divulge to him, 5.) has the signatures of these individuals to use as he sees fit, 6.) has the addresses and names of these individuals. The last two points are consistent with people trying to steal identities.
- Criminals are not stupid - they prey on the honest people who want to believe in the best of people. We as a community need to realize that they have targeted our neighborhood because it is nice and safe. They will watch and exploit any weakness they discover.
- Be safe and observant ?– let?’s catch these guys/gals!

Letter from Acquaintance (edited for his privacy):

Dear Friends and Relatives:

Some of you may have already heard what happened to me Monday, January 17. It was in the news Tuesday night, but it was a very brief recreation of the events. I declined interviews with any other media for personal reasons.

I have heard from a number of my friends, but no one in my family has been informed. I do not want to tell my children or my brothers yet, in order to save them unnecessary grief. I hope you respect my attitude for the sake of my brothers, daughter and son.

I had a doctor?’s appointment which was over at around 10:00 am. I came home and, as I always do, decided to work in spite of the fact that it was a holiday. Someone knocked at my door and I went to answer it. It was approximately 11:00 am. The man looked clean and was well dressed, with a nice dress shirt, a tie, slacks to match, a leather jacket, a skiing hat, and a scarf. He asked me if I was planning to attend (function deleted for privacy) and I told him that I was not, but that I supported the cause.

He left and I went back to work upstairs in my usual place of business. As I had done for the last twelve years, my garage door was kept open. I now realize that it had been a grave error on my part to keep the garage door open, but I had never had any problems with thieves or my neighbors. I have always trusted people. That is my nature. This episode has taught me a marvelous lesson in life. This is one lesson which I will never forget for the rest of my life.

A few minutes later after the man left, I heard another knock at my upstairs door. Thinking that it could be any number of persons who come to visit me like (names deleted) and other business associates, my immediate reaction was to say ?“come on in.?”

That was my second mistake. The man came in, stood by the door half way in and said ?“we are going to the ATM. Come on!?” I still could not believe it, but he had this despotic look in his face, with his hands in his leather jacket pockets. He could have had a gun or a knife, so I went to the door from my desk. He roughened me up a bit and almost threw me downstairs. I gained a couple of steps when he pushed me, so I thought I would run to the house and lock him out. I did not make it. After he pulled the door open, he pushed into the house, but I had a second to run towards my bedroom where I keep my gun. I could not make it, as he was much younger, stronger, and faster. By this time he had not only one, but two weapons.

I resigned myself to my obvious fate and went along with him. He insisted on my driving the big truck which is always in the garage. The pick up is usually outside on the driveway. With two weapons in his possession, surgical gloves, and a skiing hat which he pulled almost to his eyebrows, I knew that the only person who could identify him was me.

From my house, he commanded me to drive him to the intersection of Larkspur and Royal Crescent, two blocks from where I live. He then asked me to honk the horn twice, which I did. He asked me to repeat the procedure. I did this without hesitation. From there until the time it was over, no more than 18 minutes had passed by.

He made me drive into Braesview and then into NW Military Drive. From there, we went to Wurzbach Parkway, where there is very little development and, because of the holiday, very little traffic. I just knew that this is the area where my life was going to end and I resigned myself to that fate. He had the gun with hollow point ammunition stuck in the right side of my rib cage. I knew my death would not be painful because the hollow point would have cut me in two as it tore through my lungs and heart. Death would have been quick and swift.

Since I had already convinced myself that his bastard was going to kill me, I took all the time I could take getting to the bank where he had instructed me to go. It was the Frost Bank ATM machine across from Churchill High School. He covered his face with his scarf while I fumbled with my credit cards and punched the numbers in. After I gave him the money, I just knew he was going to take me back to Wurzbach Parkway, pull me in the bushes, and kill me.

I drove back to the parkway and was almost at peace with myself, thinking that I had lived a good life and had provided for my loved ones as well as I could. I regretted not having seen much of the world, but that was never an ambition of mine.

He could not shoot me while I was driving, I guess, so I waited for him to ask me to pull over, get out of the truck, walk into the bushes and kill me. He never asked me to stop. When we got to the intersection of Wurzbach Parkway and NW Military, he asked me to go south. The traffic was heavier, to my relief, but I was still aware of the fact that he could kill me anytime he chose. By the time we got to Braesview, I experienced an immense sense of rage and hatred. At the same time, it exhilarated me to know that I was not going to be killed that easily. The least I could do is put up a fight so that people could see it and the !@#%&* would get caught.

He asked me to go southeast along Braesview to Larkspur, the place where he had asked me to honk the horn twice. To my amazement, he took the clip out of my gun, put the clip in his jacket pocket, and dropped the weapon behind the driver?’s seat. He asked me to drop him off at the entrance of the Devonshire Condominiums. He then said after he opened the door ?“I don?’t want your gun or your truck. Do you remember my name??” I did not. All I could think was to get back to my house, reload my gun with another clip and go empty the full 15 rounds in his face.

I called the police around sixty seconds after I dropped him off. They did not show up until 15 later and he was gone for good. The police trashed around for a few minutes around my house, gave me a case number, and never heard from the again. No courtesy calls, updates on the case, or any other kind of information has ever been transmitted to me after they left the scene of the crime.

Anyway, here I am. By some divine providence I am still alive. I am a lot older now, and have learned to appreciate life much better. With good friends and relatives like you, I am positive my life will continue to be a good, fruitful one. I thank you for being close to me.

Name withheld