Montgomery County police responded to a report of an armed robbery at Geste Beer & Wine at 4801 Edgemoor Lane early Tuesday evening. The robbery was reported at the store at 6:32 PM Tuesday. A reader reported having seen at least 10 police cruisers arriving at the store, which is right by the Bethesda Metro station, about 9 minutes after the store owner reported the robbery. That fits what owner Ajay Aggarwal told Fox 5 yesterday. Another reader tweeted video of the scene about 50 minutes after the robbery.
Fox 5 reported that the store had been robbed at gunpoint only one night earlier. Aggarwal said police "made me close the shop" earlier than the usual midnight closing time. He complied, but said he cannot afford to do that every night, and wished there were more police on patrol in downtown Bethesda. Montgomery County has lost 194 police officers in the last 5 years, there are 179 sworn officer vacancies, and police priority response time has increased "more than 17%" since 2019, a County Council staff member reported in March.
Despite that and the ample evidence of crime all around us, the Council has not taken any substantive action on public safety. The record of no results speaks for itself. It will be interesting to see how much longer business owners can take this, before they take concerted action to elect leaders who will actually address the crime plaguing Montgomery County.
17 comments:
I always find it surprising that after something happens (even something far less concerning than a robbery), there are 15-20 officers standing around in front of the crime scene for a couple hours, but there is almost never an officer nearby just on a regular patrol. You see videos of kids strolling down the street with their arms full of Nike junk or these teens heading for the metro and waiting however long for a train to arrive; you'd think it'd be exceedingly easy to catch up to them if officers were actually in the area BEFORE something happened.
The problem clearly isn't lack of officers, considering how many respond to every little thing; there's three cruisers responding for every speeding ticket and 10 for every theft. The problem is there's little active presence in the community to help deter crime and quickly catch suspects. The drone program seems to have been successfully implemented in other parts of the county and presumably that will be expanded, but some good ol' fashion community policing would also be welcome. It shouldn't be too much to ask for an officer to be assigned to the block around each populated metro station, for example. And I don't mean an officer sitting in their vehicle three floors up in a parking deck taking a siesta for 95% of their shift, as I witnessed an officer do for years. They should be on the ground, getting to know business owners, figuring out where teens congregate after school, noticing patterns of theft and vandalism, etc.
Defund, demoralize, demean law enforcement. Police chief says nothing. Comrade Elrich says nothing. Nobody says anything. This is downtown Bethesda not SS, Takoma or SE DC where, sadly, it's a daily occurrence. Disgrace. McCarthy is soft on crime too and that's the real issue. Every one of these hard working business owners should carry a pistol on their hip and know how to use it. These total degenerate crooks need to taste some real pain and maybe mortal wounds which will send a loud message to other would be robbers. Terrible.
Close the shop early to avoid getting robbed. Friggin' pathetic! Ok, what's next, just altogether close? No wonder we're slipping into the abyss. Whoever recommended that to the proprietor should be in a non customer facing light duty, no responsibility, job.
Of course, if the proprietor's not a great shot under stress/pressure, you might be the innocent customer/bystander "tasting some pain." Get real.
8:14 short of Police or not, that LEO doesn't have the character to be in blue. He or she should be summarily terminated.
The non customer facing light duty job is already taken by Erich.
12:21 - Get real? What does even mean? So, guns in the hands of law abiding citizens, who get good training, should not be allowed? I don't understand. Question. Is it ok that bad guys can come into a business with a gun which isn't legally obtained, permitted, etc by the way and the owner is not allowed to protect himself and his business? The comment about hitting an innocent bystander is simply strong anti gun. That's fine but good guys with guns save lives and that's a fact.
12:21's concern about hitting an innocent bystander is simply realistic.
Even law enforcement officers, who are specifically trained for these situations, might sometimes miss--and their training includes when deadly force is legal, and also when/how not to endanger bystanders.
So, again, get real.
4:12 - Guns are bad and under no circumstances should anyone use one to protect themselves or their property. Got it.
The police are not the problem. The DA's, and the courts are to blame. People get arrested, and sent away without paying any bail. When, and if (highly doubtful) they go to court, they get a slap on the wrist, (more likely a pat on the back.) It seems some want people to fear danger, and frustration so they will give up freedom to some Marxist. Crime, riots, race wars, and economic pressures will cause this. Progressives love what normal people want. Time to vote Blue, (I am a registered Democrat who will not vote that way.)
12:21. If you do not feel confident in protecting yourself don't keep me from protecting myself. Plus, you're leaving one important factor out, the perps KNOW we are almost 100 percent unarmed because of the laws that benefit them and paralyze us. Do you ever get to visit big cities in the 28, or more, CONSTITUTIONAL Carry States? You'll find 'people' are far more law abiding and less surly.
2:09 - What a great post. Thanks for your accurate and completely sane response. This area is so anti-gun it's beyond belief. Many would love to see 2A go away. They've darn sure seen fit to severely restrict our Rights as you point out here. That's clear. Welcome to the revolution!
Get real, lol. It's merely an option. Do your research.
What it the competition?
JAC, I'm just holding on to see the Revolution! Maybe the next hot summer?
May 21, early. Looks like they caught this perp. Maybe we'll see him again in a few days. Will our "County Attorney" put him back on the street? Of course!
3:01 - Yep, he's a big part of the problem. Gets voted in time after time. McCarthy has held that position now for years. They let all these people out. Many excuses for why none of them good reasons.
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