Guest Column
Spate of robberies unsettles residents:
Shootings, killing in recent weeks prompt neighbors to seek heightened security; police fear immigrants targeted.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Yolanda Rodriguez
April 25, 2007
The "Happy Children at Play" signs and geese strolling
through Castlewood Estates Mobile Home Park in Cobb County belie the unease
of people who live there.
On Sunday, robbers shot five people —- including a teenage boy —- in the
community. A few weeks before that, a man was shot in another robbery at
Castlewood. And attackers shot and killed a man last month at a nearby
apartment complex.
The violence has unnerved residents in the neighborhood of about 300 lots
that residents say they rent for several hundred dollars a month. They plan
to meet with management tonight to ask for more security.
Police say one reason assailants target Castlewood is that many residents
are Latino immigrants, including some who are in the United States
illegally. Many illegal immigrants avoid banks and carry cash, which makes
them easy prey for the unscrupulous. In addition, people in the country
without permission often are less likely to report a crime to police for
fear of calling attention to their immigration status.
"We are very concerned that the level of violence is escalating," said Cobb
police Chief George Hatfield. "They understand that Latinos carry large
amounts of cash, and they know that the community does not communicate with
us."
His department has beefed up patrols and started comparing notes with police
in nearby Atlanta. Hatfield urged people to call 911 and report suspicious
vehicles or people.
"We want to catch them," the chief said. "We want to put them in jail."
Meanwhile, anxiety mounts in Castlewood Estates, a neighborhood of neat
lawns with satellite dishes in the yards and potted plants on front porches.
Many people chat outside with neighbors.
"We are indignant," said Hortensia Gonzalez, a mother of two who has lived
in Castlewood for six years and is suddenly reluctant to let her children
play outside. "This has never happened before."
She and some neighbors want gates for the community.
"It could happen to any one of us," she said.
Some residents own trailers, while others rent, said Victor Villegas, who
has lived in the park for four years.
"This place was peaceful," Villegas said.
Castlewood management was not available Monday and did not return several
phone calls Tuesday.
This year, 42 of 92 street robberies reported to Cobb police happened in a
swath of southwest Cobb County that includes Castlewood Estates and
Sweetwater Cove, an apartment complex where robbers killed a man last month,
and many other neighborhoods.
Three in four people who were the victims of street robberies were Latinos
in a part of southwest Cobb that encompasses neighborhoods south of Bankhead
Highway and east of Factory Shoals Road, including Castlewood Estates and
neighborhoods around Six Flags Over Georgia.
The most recent case —- in which robbers shot five men —- unfolded Sunday as
Ricardo Pulido's uncles and two friends grilled beef outside their home just
after midnight. A silver car pulled up, and two men with handguns stepped
out and demanded cash.
"They started shooting," said Pulido, who was not home at the time.
Pulido's 14-year-old cousin, Jackson Porras, was inside. He went to the door
when he heard shots and was shot in the ribs. Doctors have told his family
that it's too risky to remove the bullet, said Manuel Garcia, a relative.
His father, Jesus Gonzalez, is in critical condition, Garcia said.
He said the family is thinking of moving, perhaps to Forest Park.
"It is too risky here," Garcia said.
Isaac Gutierrez, who is originally from Peru, hopes to move, too.
Late one evening in March, Gutierrez was sitting outside his trailer with
his roommate and a friend when two men walked up. One put a gun to
Gutierrez's stomach, cursed at him and demanded his wallet. Gutierrez turned
over the cash. They robbed his roommate, then turned their attention to his
friend, Ricardo Rodriguez.
Rodriguez resisted. As the two men struggled for the wallet, Rodriguez was
shot in the stomach, Gutierrez said. Rodriguez fell face up and the robber
took his money.
"Before leaving, he shot him again," Gutierrez said.
The two men cut through the yard of an adjacent trailer and disappeared into
the darkness.
Rodriguez is recovering from the injury, he said.
The robbers took what little money he had.
"I don't have money to pay my rent," he said. "I don't have money to send to
my two daughters, who are studying in the university."
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed by HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com) without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)