mobeewan
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Family lives in fear in southeast NN
Members of the Korycinski family say intruders have stolen property, as well as threatened and assaulted them.
By DAVID MACAULAY | 247-7838
December 23, 2008
NEWPORT NEWS - Jane Korycinski recalls how she stood in her kitchen while an intruder casually raised his gun and waved it at her. "He kind of halfway pointed the gun," the 96-year-old said.
Korycinski wasn't scared: "I was just watching the gun. I take it in my stride. What can I do about it?"
Intruders have become common at her Cedar Avenue home in southeast Newport News. From October to the middle of November, the home was broken into on four occasions. Korycinski has been home every time.
The crime wave at the address is part of a larger number of burglaries in the neighborhood, police said.
On one occasion, the whole family — which spans four generations — was there: Korycinski's daughter, Nancy Houston; Nancy's 30-year-old son, Kory Houston; and his son, 4-year-old Clayton.
The first burglary took place at the end of October. Korycinski was home alone one afternoon and watched as two young men ransacked it.
The intruders stole Nancy's laptop, cell phones, a stereo, CDs and Jane's 50-state quarter collection. "They went upstairs and ransacked the place," Nancy said.
About a week later, Korycinski woke up about 10:15 p.m. to see two intruders in her bedroom. She cried out and woke up the other family members. The burglars fled.
In November, they smashed a window at the back of the house, Houston said.
On Nov. 11, they got into the kitchen through the broken window and threatened Korycinski with a gun, she said.
The family thinks that the same two intruders — juveniles about 16 or 17 — are responsible for all the break-ins.
A week after the last break-in, Kory was robbed and badly beaten near his home.
This month, the Newport News Police Department issued a public appeal after 37 residential burglaries occurred, concentrated in the area from 27th Street to Blair Avenue and from Buxton Avenue to Walnut Avenue. The burglaries started Sept. 5.
To date, no arrests have been made, police spokesman Lou Thurston said.
Nancy, 62, said the neighborhood that she grew up in has changed beyond recognition.
"We used to play kickball out in the street, run to each other's houses and have a neighborhood we could all play in. Now it's different."
She said the area used to be a "nice middle-class neighborhood."
"My father used to work for NASA," she said. "It was nice and well kept. Of course, people got more affluent and moved out. Now the people here are older and the ones who own the houses can't afford to keep them up."
She moved back in with her mother after her husband died. Nancy said the recent crime wave traumatized the family:
"It's caused us a lot of grief. The little one has had nightmares. He doesn't want to go anywhere in this house unless there's someone with him."
"I am scared for my safety. There are many, many gunshots 'round here. I'm constantly on the phone to the police about gunshots in the neighborhood."
No break-ins have taken place at their house since mid-November, but the family's fear of crime seldom abates.
Kory Houston, in particular, is apprehensive. On Nov. 21, he was robbed and pistol-whipped, suffering a minor fracture to his skull.
Kory thinks that he might have been attacked by some of the people who were in his home.
He was walking home from a store at 19th Street and Buxton about 7:30 p.m. He said four juvenile attackers hid behind a house and waited for him to walk past.
"I still have a big lump," he said. "I used to walk to that store all the time. Now I have to wonder if someone will be at my house, waiting for me to come back."
Kory said he seldom sees police officers in the area. "They are not beefing up anything," he said.
Thurston said that active policing was taking place in the area but that it wasn't always obvious.
"There is a police presence down there," he said. "It's not always marked cars with lights on top. There are hidden units, bicycle units and High Impact Patrol Units."
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/newport_news/dp-local_breakins_1220dec23,0,5938807.story
Many homes in this area have been broken into several times. One of the janitors who works in my building at night in the Shipyard in NN has been broken into 3 times.
Family lives in fear in southeast NN
Members of the Korycinski family say intruders have stolen property, as well as threatened and assaulted them.
By DAVID MACAULAY | 247-7838
December 23, 2008
NEWPORT NEWS - Jane Korycinski recalls how she stood in her kitchen while an intruder casually raised his gun and waved it at her. "He kind of halfway pointed the gun," the 96-year-old said.
Korycinski wasn't scared: "I was just watching the gun. I take it in my stride. What can I do about it?"
Intruders have become common at her Cedar Avenue home in southeast Newport News. From October to the middle of November, the home was broken into on four occasions. Korycinski has been home every time.
The crime wave at the address is part of a larger number of burglaries in the neighborhood, police said.
On one occasion, the whole family — which spans four generations — was there: Korycinski's daughter, Nancy Houston; Nancy's 30-year-old son, Kory Houston; and his son, 4-year-old Clayton.
The first burglary took place at the end of October. Korycinski was home alone one afternoon and watched as two young men ransacked it.
The intruders stole Nancy's laptop, cell phones, a stereo, CDs and Jane's 50-state quarter collection. "They went upstairs and ransacked the place," Nancy said.
About a week later, Korycinski woke up about 10:15 p.m. to see two intruders in her bedroom. She cried out and woke up the other family members. The burglars fled.
In November, they smashed a window at the back of the house, Houston said.
On Nov. 11, they got into the kitchen through the broken window and threatened Korycinski with a gun, she said.
The family thinks that the same two intruders — juveniles about 16 or 17 — are responsible for all the break-ins.
A week after the last break-in, Kory was robbed and badly beaten near his home.
This month, the Newport News Police Department issued a public appeal after 37 residential burglaries occurred, concentrated in the area from 27th Street to Blair Avenue and from Buxton Avenue to Walnut Avenue. The burglaries started Sept. 5.
To date, no arrests have been made, police spokesman Lou Thurston said.
Nancy, 62, said the neighborhood that she grew up in has changed beyond recognition.
"We used to play kickball out in the street, run to each other's houses and have a neighborhood we could all play in. Now it's different."
She said the area used to be a "nice middle-class neighborhood."
"My father used to work for NASA," she said. "It was nice and well kept. Of course, people got more affluent and moved out. Now the people here are older and the ones who own the houses can't afford to keep them up."
She moved back in with her mother after her husband died. Nancy said the recent crime wave traumatized the family:
"It's caused us a lot of grief. The little one has had nightmares. He doesn't want to go anywhere in this house unless there's someone with him."
"I am scared for my safety. There are many, many gunshots 'round here. I'm constantly on the phone to the police about gunshots in the neighborhood."
No break-ins have taken place at their house since mid-November, but the family's fear of crime seldom abates.
Kory Houston, in particular, is apprehensive. On Nov. 21, he was robbed and pistol-whipped, suffering a minor fracture to his skull.
Kory thinks that he might have been attacked by some of the people who were in his home.
He was walking home from a store at 19th Street and Buxton about 7:30 p.m. He said four juvenile attackers hid behind a house and waited for him to walk past.
"I still have a big lump," he said. "I used to walk to that store all the time. Now I have to wonder if someone will be at my house, waiting for me to come back."
Kory said he seldom sees police officers in the area. "They are not beefing up anything," he said.
Thurston said that active policing was taking place in the area but that it wasn't always obvious.
"There is a police presence down there," he said. "It's not always marked cars with lights on top. There are hidden units, bicycle units and High Impact Patrol Units."
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/newport_news/dp-local_breakins_1220dec23,0,5938807.story
Many homes in this area have been broken into several times. One of the janitors who works in my building at night in the Shipyard in NN has been broken into 3 times.
