Crime On The Increase In Short Pump: What’s To Blame?

Over the past few months, Short Pump has been in the headlines Richmond-wide for criminal activity. We’ve counted nearly ten instances newsworthy criminal activity in the past two months. Residents and business owners alike question whether the sour economy is to blame or it’s just a side effect of fast-paced development. In February, the Fasmart on […]

May 14, 2009; 4:35 PM • by Trevor Dickerson

In February, the Fasmart on Nuckols Road was burglarized.

In early April, 23-year-old Michael L. Moore allegedly robbed customers at gunpoint two nights in a row at the Short Pump Walmart before being apprehended by police a few days later.

May brought a shooting to West Broad Village, just outside of the new Dave & Buster’s. Fortunately the victim walked away with only minor injuries.

Finally, just a few days ago, the Short Pump Ukrop’s was robbed. A man in his 40s passed the cashier a note demanding money, but displayed no weapon.

These are the most newsworthy incidents, but other issues have increased, such as vandalism. Residents along a portion of Kain Road, just across from Short Pump Middle School, had their mailboxes destroyed by what appeared to be a baseball bat, just over a week ago.

While it’s important to note that smaller incidents, such as vandalism, occur all the time, residents say they’ve definitely noticed an increase as of late. Robberies were few and far between, to the tune of only a couple a year at most. Shootings were virtually unheard of.

The growth of the Short Pump area has been explosive over the past decade, and especially over the past six months with the gradual opening of restaurants and shops at West Broad Village. The economy has also taken a nosedive in the same time period, leaving many to wonder which, if either, is to blame.

Wyndham resident Jeff Mock isn’t surprised by the higher levels of crime and thinks it’s attributed to the exponential growth of the area. “As the population near Short Pump and traffic through the area increases, crime is going to also increase,” Mock said. “It’s painful to watch, but it also makes going on my long weekends to my family’s land in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania so much more relaxing.”

“I have lived in more urban areas before, so I’m not scared of getting mugged in the Target parking lot at night, but I will definitly think twice before leaving a laptop in my car while I run in for something quick.”

With new major developments such as West Broad Village, police have had a hard time keeping up. “A friend of mine feared [crime] may become an issue, solely because of Dave & Buster’s, and the stories she used to hear about the Rockville, Maryland location,” Mike Friedman wrote to us on Twitter. It should be noted, however, that those involved with the shooting were allegedly not at Dave & Buster’s that night.

Charles Whittall, Managing Member of West Broad Village, LLC., submitted a statement regarding the violence in his development to NBC12 last week. “We are profoundly disturbed by the incident that occurred within our development,” Whittall said. “We are deeply committed to the prevention of any more violent acts within our community. There will be…police presence within West Broad Village effective immediately.”

Officers have been seen patrolling the development every night since the shooting.

Hilarity Lozito, writing in to us from Twitter, thinks the current recession is to blame. “It’s the economy,” Lozito said. “When times get tough and you have more people fighting for a smaller pot, crime is going to happen anywhere.”

Whichever stance you take, it’s clear that there’s a sharp increase in the amount of incidents occurring in the Far West End in recent months. Is it the growth, the economy, or pure coincidence? You be the judge.

What do you think is to blame? Submit your comments to us below.