by Katherine Green

Walking two blocks to a friend’s house, Rockhurst High School juniors Jack Hodes and Andrew Herring were not expecting to be mugged Jan. 24.

According to Jack, he and Herring were right in front of the friend Rockhurst junior Billy Hodes’ house when Herring pulled out his phone to call Billy to say he and Jack were there. Jack said two cars pulled up and stopped. He remembers about 10 people jumping out and telling the juniors to get down on the ground in front of Billy’s house on 58th Street. Herring and Jack were told to empty their pockets, which had their phones and wallets in them.

“I was too much in shock to have any thoughts,” Jack said.

One of the men then held a gun to Jack’s head, demanding the passcode to his iPhone. After taking their wallets and phones, the men left, and the two juniors sprinted inside the house. No one was in the kitchen, so they ran inside and called the police, who arrived soon. Following the muggings, Jack recently had to go into the police department to see a suspect lineup. At the station, Jack was shown pictures of suspects from different muggings.

Around seven other muggings occurred that night in Brookside, according to Jack. A few days prior to this, south of the Plaza, a string of armed robberies happened in a 48-hour time span, according to 41 Action News. From Jan. 21 – 23, nine separate incidents of armed robberies had been reported. These incidents occurred from 58th Street and Ward Parkway to the Westport area.

Along with Jack and Herring, others in the STA community have been targeted in the Brookside area. Sophomore Maggie Hodes, Billy’s sister and Jack’s cousin, has already been a victim of burglary. In the beginning of this school year, Maggie said her family’s tires were stolen off its car at night while the car was parked within the Hodes’ gated property in Brookside.

“I mean, I feel safe,” Maggie said, “I’ve always felt safe in my neighborhood. When things like this happen, it just reminds me that there’s going to be crime anywhere. No matter where you live, there’s always going to be crime.”

In the Kansas City, Mo. area in 2012, 1,645 robberies, 6,931 burglaries, 15,094 larceny/theft and 3,574 motor vehicle theft incidents occurred, according to the Kansas City Police Department. However, the nine incidents that recently happened gained more media coverage.

Terry Finn is a retired Kansas City Police Department officer. He said that crime sprees like the recent ones appear to have increased due to the recent coverage of armed robberies and ongoing burglaries. However, he said these sprees occur on “semi- regular basis.”

According to KCPD Metro Patrol Station Sergeant Kevin Kilkenny, these sprees happen about once or twice a year.

“The more sensational [the crime] sounds, the more they’ll publish it,” Finn said.

Jack said the mugging he experienced with Herring is linked to others. Although the muggers have not been caught, according to Kilkenny, there are three subjects involved and the police assume it is the same three men carrying out the other burglaries.

When it comes to finding those who commit crime sprees such as these, police look at the patterns offered, such at the similar types of crime and the places they take place, according to Kilkenny. If an area falls victim to repeated crime sprees, more police may patrol the area.

With the Brookside area continuing to fall victim to burglaries, Kilkenny says it is the “great nosy neighbors” that help catch these suspects. Some neighbors have actually taken pictures of the suspects’ cars, helping track where the suspects may be. Although the burglars are stealing cars, committing the crimes, and then dumping the stolen cars elsewhere, the reports of the suspects’ whereabouts still help the investigation, according to Kilkenny.

Even though the police have not caught the suspects who mugged Hodes or Herring, some crimes can be prevented. Kilkenny calls burglary a “crime of opportunity.”

“The best thing to do is try to not put yourself in a situation where [crime] could happen,” Finn said. “If something like that happens, stay calm and pay attention to the person or vehicles that they are in to help get a description for the police.”