Booth Park has become a new crime hot spot, with incidents ranging from underage drinking to robbery at gunpoint.
On March 27 and April 9 kids were robbed at gunpoint at the park, located on the corner of Harmony and Old Woodward, and reported having money and cell phones stolen. Both instances happened after park hours. “The subjects of the robberies are, again, wallets and possibly cells phones,” Seaholm Police Liaison Ron Halcrow said.
Police say that the robberies were done by different people.
On March 27, Halcrow said a group of Hispanic looking teen males held up kids at gunpoint and stole money and cell phones. On April 9 two white teen males with blue bandanas covering their faces reportedly robbed a group of kids. One of the men was said to have used a black semi-automatic handgun to intimidate the kids.
“Whether they are actual handguns or pellet pistols or air soft guns we are not exactly sure,” Halcrow said.
For the past few weekends police officers have been enforcing the park hours and are starting to issue tickets if people are found there after 10 p.m.
“The officers are going to step it up,” Halcrow said. “They are going to enforce the curfew.”
Suspects 17 and older who violate city mandated curfew go to district court, where they can be tried for a minor misdemeanor. Those 16 and under are considered juveniles. They may have to go to court or have a conference with police officers and their parents. If they go to court, juveniles will be fined up to $90 - $130.
In addition to robbery, there have been reports of underage drinking and drug occurring behind the park in the trail leading into the woods.
One Birmingham resident who asked to remain anonymous says that she doesn’t feel threatened by all of the crimes that have happened at the park. She has no worries about her kids either.
“They just don’t go hanging out back there,” she said.
Upon hearing of the recent crimes, Lynn Crawford, another Birmingham resident, was shocked.
“It’s pretty alarming,” Crawford said.
Crawford was disappointed that she had not been notified by the Birmingham police about the recent activity happening just around the block.
Some residents are taking steps to make sure that people who are starting trouble are staying away from the park.
Bob Przybylo doesn’t want to stay away from Booth Park; he is trying to make sure that his neighbors are staying safe.
“I’ve actually have been more vigilant in like when I drive by Booth Park, especially late at night to see if there [are] any strange people out there,” Przybylo said.
While residents are alarmed about the crimes that have been happening in Booth Park, Crawford says that it is somewhat inevitable.
“I guess I always felt like that just goes with the territory when you have a public space that a lot of people come and use,” Crawford said.
