The often quiet Shepherd Park neighborhood has been the target of a recent string of criminal activity.
Dana Ju’s nanny was walking through the neighborhood around 7 p.m. on December 27, when two men wearing masks jumped from a vehicle and held a gun to her head demanding her belongings.
According to Ju, “They came up to her, put a gun to her head and said, ‘Give me your things.’ One of the guys put his hand in her pocket, where she had her cellphone. They took her cellphone, her purse and bag and sped off,” she said.
Along with a string of car break-ins, the nanny’s robbery was the second one in the Shepherd Park neighborhood in a three day span. On Christmas Eve a man was robbed just a few blocks away.
Ju said, “The police had told us in no uncertain terms that this is happening because a lot of the streets are dark. You know, there’s not a lot of street light.”
Ju and her neighbors are realizing the need to handle their nightly activities with more pre-caution.
“Usually I walk the dog when I get home at 5:30 or 6 p.m. It’s dark then. I haven’t been doing that. I’m kind of afraid to walk around at night. Somebody could come up to me from behind and I wouldn’t know,” Ju said.
Police have yet to locate the perpetrators in either case.