Public Masturbation Reported

VCU Commonwealth Times newspaper is reporting that there have been repeated complaints about a public masturbator on the 195 overpass bridge on S. Laurel Street.

Excerpt:

On Oct. 28 at 9:30 p.m., junior advertising major Meredith Berger was walking to the library from her home in Oregon Hill when she was warned of a man publicly masturbating on the South Laurel St. Bridge.

“I was about to cross the bridge that is on Laurel going over the highway in Oregon Hill and was stopped by this girl,” Berger said. “She told me I should cross the street because there was this guy publicly masturbating.”

According to Berger, the young woman who stopped her seemed disturbed by the incident.

“She was really upset by this and she was really very adamant that I be on the other side of the street and not deal with him,” Berger said. “She was really nice though and made a lot of effort to stop me.”

Both Berger and her roommate, junior interior design major Noshin Faruque, described this man as African American, medium build and medium height in his late 30s to early 40s.

Faruque said she has come across this suspect five times.

Harassment At Idlewood and Belvidere

Richmond Times Dispatch column receives letter about the homeless people who hang out at the crossing of Byrd (Idlewood)and Belvedere streets.

They harass me by yelling expletives and walking menacingly toward me (they never ask for money — it’s mostly vulgar catcalls), and I started feeling so unsafe that I modified my route (adding about 10 minutes to my commute) so I could avoid that corner.

The columnist contacted the police about the situation.

Lepley also said that anyone can call the nonemergency number at (804) 646-5100 to report harassment and ask for the sector lieutenant to call back regarding the issue.
One more salient point from the reader’s email:
“What can I do about this issue? I feel really sorry for them, but I just don’t feel safe and I would like to be able to walk to work without fear of facing these really scary situations every morning,” she wrote.

DUI Violation On Idlewood

From RAIDSonline.com:

DUI, ALCOHOL
9XX IDLEWOOD AVE
Oct 6, 2015 at 6:47 pm
Data provided by Richmond Police Department

Also,

CITY CODE VIOLATIONS
6XX W CARY ST
Oct 5, 2015 at 6:50 pm
Data provided by Virginia Commonwealth University Police Department

DRUNKENNESS
3XX S BELVIDERE ST
Oct 5, 2015 at 7:23 pm
Data provided by Richmond Police Department

HIT AND RUN
4XX S HARRISON ST
Oct 6, 2015 at 2:10 am
Data provided by Richmond Police Department

Recent Crime Report

From RAIDSonline.com:

DESTRUCTION PROPERTY/CITY PROPERTY
8XX CHINA ST
Sep 12, 2015 at 11:00 pm
Data provided by Richmond Police Department

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT
6XX ALBEMARLE ST
Sep 13, 2015 at 1:27 am
Data provided by Richmond Police Department

DESTRUCTION PROPERTY/PRIVATE PROPERTY
6XX S LAUREL ST
Sep 13, 2015 at 3:00 pm
Data provided by Richmond Police Department

Shooting near VCU

WWBT NBC Channel 12 is reporting that:

VCU police sent out an alert early Tuesday morning for students to stay inside, while officers investigated reports of a shooting near campus.
Police responded to the 400 block of North Harrison Street around 3:13 a.m. Witnesses told them the suspects, two white men and one black man, left the area in a red Mini Cooper heading east on Grace Street.
Right now, officers are still investigating. When our photographer went to check it out, he spotted what appeared to be shell casings.
Police say no one was hit by bullets.
VCU Police sent out another alert saying everything was safe, but they are still patrolling the area.

Several Oregon Hill residents have said they were woken up by the alert sirens.