THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 27, 1994 TAG: 9412270083
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Car windows were smashed. Radios were stolen. Thieves made off with thousands of dollars in loot.
After two straight days of vandalism, managers at the College Square Apartments in Suffolk were hoping the neighborhood culprits would leave their residents alone.
In the meantime, they wanted the police to leave them alone, too.
The complex's management company, S.L. Nusbaum Realty, complained when police tried to broadcast details about the vandalism on television. The apartments don't need the bad publicity, a Nusbaum spokesman said. And because police videotaped the segment on private property, he reasoned, Nusbaum could insist that it not be telecast.
Police relented, but they say they are frustrated now that they can't use TV publicity to help solve the case.
And some of the victims say they wish their landlords would just do the landlording and let the crime solvers do the crime solving.
``What's worse, bad publicity or somebody stealing my stuff?'' said one victim, who didn't want to give his name because ``it's bad enough without the landlord after me.''
In one two-day period this month, vandals broke into six cars parked outside the northern Suffolk apartment complex. Police estimated the culprits caused more than $2,400 in property damageand stole thousands of dollars worth of belongings.
Police went there Dec. 17 to videotape a segment for Crime Line. Suffolk Crime Line coordinator Mike Simpkins planned to air the tape on both broadcast and cable television.
But when managers at the complex found out, they complained and told police to cancel the segment.
Simpkins pulled it, saying he has other crimes to solve and doesn't want to get into a fight over this one. But he was only trying to do his job, he said. ``We do Crime Line to solve crimes, not to give people publicity,'' Simpkins said. ``We thought it was the best way to catch the suspects.''
Detectives had few leads and decided Crime Line might be their best hope. Police got two leads on a bank robbery that Simpkins broadcast in place of the College Square vandalism, for instance.
But S.L Nusbaum managers say they wanted to handle it themselves by increasing private security. So far, they said, no new crimes have been reported.
``A report like that, naming our property, can ruin tens of thousands of dollars in advertising,'' said Mike Devine, a property manager for the company. ``We want to solve it, too - believe me. But we'd rather try to take care of it before it causes any more damage.''
Devine said the company wanted only to delay the telecast until the apartment complex's regular manager returns from a trip to Hawaii.
Other residents of College Square understand the management's concern.
``I can see why they wouldn't want that kind of publicity,'' said resident Tony Bonham, 26. ``It's a nice neighborhood. It was really out of character for those things to happen.''
But, Bonham added: ``The police just want to find out who did it. I think everyone would like to know who did it.'' by CNB