Gunshots seem to have a way of going off around 710 Washington Ave., a Paul Hinshaw-owned house, children's daycare (!), and most recently, home to Javonte Dangelo Roy, the alleged shooter in an October 27 incident that led to a Grant Elementary school lockdown.
In 1998, 710 Washington resident and daycare worker Ronald Brown was arrested on drug and weapons charges.
http://columbiatribune.com/1998/dec/19981219news04r.htm
Then on 9/11/2007, neighbors reported "two people shooting handguns at one another" on the property. Witness Mark Brown said, "All I heard was a shooting coming out of the daycare. I just saw a man running down the street saying out loud, 'I got shot in the leg.'"
http://columbiatribune.com/2007/sep/20070911news051.asp
Asked about it later, daycare operator Robin Ricketts said she was watching cartoons and taking care of three 2- and 3-year-olds (comforting thought). Police came to her door at 710 Washington Ave., closing off traffic between Wilkes Boulevard and Pecan Streets.
"I never heard anything," Ricketts said. "My dryer was on." (Since when does noise from a clothes dryer muffle multiple gunshots?)
http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2007/sep/20070913news004.asp
About a month later, 710 Washington was reportedly the home of the infamous Malcolm D. Redmon, who's made revolving in and out jail cells a public joke and who was involved in this latest shooting near Grant. Last year, he hit the streets in another October gunfire blast:
"The suspected gunman in a shooting that wounded two people as a fistfight erupted in gunfire Tuesday is on parole for four felony convictions. Police also have linked Malcolm D. Redmon, 24, of 710 Washington Ave. to at least two other shootings since 2000, according to Tribune archives.
http://columbiatribune.com/2007/oct/20071013news004.asp
Javonte Roy has been arrested five times since December 2007, each time providing 710 Washington Avenue as his address of record, which means landlord Paul Hinshaw receives a report on the arrests from CPD officer Tim Thomason.
And that's not all. The daycare at 710 Washington has logged some 18 arrests in the past few years, according to Columbia Tribune archives. They include longtime resident Ronald Elwood Brown for possession of a controlled substance, forgery, drug dealing, possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest, third-degree assault, and just yesterday (November 10), driving while intoxicated.
Everyone involved in this incident had a record that one would think could keep them off the streets for a while. However, all bonded out and were back doing what they do best by the next day.
ReplyDeleteIt shouldn't be surprising that victims are reluctant to testify in court when the guys they would be testifying against are free to retaliate at will. This is a frightening update of the Old West gunslinger terrorizing the community--do we need a new sheriff in town?
The police know these guys well and pick them up repeatedly--to no avail. Where's the broken link? Is it the prosecutor's office? Or the courts?
This isn't my area of expertise, so I'm not full of ideas or answers. However, it seems clear even to the layman that priorities need to be modified. Why spend a lot of police and court time on some doofus smoking a joint or carrying an open container when a plague of gunfire and potential violence makes life miserable for entire neighborhoods?