Be on the lookout for suspicious activity around businesses in the Near West End.  We reported a few weeks ago about the break-in at Camp Comfort Zone and now The T-D reports:

Henrico County police are investigating a rash of commercial burglaries in the Willow Lawn, Parham and Glen Forest area office parks.

Lt. Doug Perry said 15 break-ins were reported between Feb. 21 and March 25, and in almost all, an office building was accessed through an unlocked exterior door during the overnight hours. Once inside, thieves pried open interior office doors to gain access to individual businesses.

Laptops, electronic equipment and small amounts of cash appear to be the burglars’ items of interest.

Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.

The new CVS across from Willow Lawn Shopping Center had a rough day yesterday. Someone decided to rob the store. Twice.

Henrico Police are looking for two suspects in two robberies of the same drug store today. A clerk was cut with a pocketknife in the second robbery.

At 2 a.m. a man entered the CVS Pharmacy at 5001 W. Broad St., jumped over the counter and demanded the clerk open the register, police said. He threatened to stab her if she didn’t.

After grabbing money from the cash drawer, he then fled the store on foot, police said.

Five hours later, the same man, accompanied by another man, entered the store and menaced the same clerk, who was cut, police said. After getting more money, both men ran from the store and drove away in a gray sport utility vehicle, police said.

The first suspect was described as a black male, 35-45 years old, about 5-foot-10, and approximately 175 pounds. He had short black hair, dark complexion, thin mustache and was average in build, voice and appearance. He wore a faded polo shirt, black or blue pants, a black baseball cap and tan boots. Police said he had a small, folding knife with a black handle.

The second suspect is a black male, approximately 45 years old, 5-foot-7, and 145-150 pounds. He had curly hair, a scruffy beard, dark complexion, thin build and a dirty appearance. He was wearing red shorts, a red T-shirt, black ball cap and black tennis shoes.

Police are asking that anyone with information about either of these robberies to contact Henrico County Police (804) 501-5000 or CrimeStoppers (804) 780-1000.

[via the Times-Dispatch]

A woman was charged with two felony neglect charges after allegedly leaving 2 children in a car alone at Willow Lawn shopping center on Tuesday afternoon, the Times-Dispatch reports.

A 4-year-old child and an 8-month-old infant were pulled by firefighters Tuesday afternoon from a broiling car where temperatures had reached as high as 130 degrees, Henrico police said yesterday.

“Firefighters responding to a call from a passerby recorded temperatures inside the vehicle of 125 to 130 degrees,” Lt. Doug Perry said yesterday.

Yesterday morning, Fredrika Michele Simpson, 40, appeared in Henrico General District Court and was released on bond.

Did you know that the near west end is home to a shelter for women and thier children who are victims of domestic violence?  Come learn more about Safe Harbor Women’s Shelter – why domestic violence happens and what you can do about it.

1 in 4 women will be victims of domestic violence with in their lifetime.

That could be you, your mom, sister, neighbor…..anyone.

  The Free Seminar is Tuesday, June 24, 2008 from 6:30-9 pm at Safe Harbor Community Office at 2006 Bremo Rd Suite 201, in the Near West End.

RSVP by Friday, June 13 to Chris Cain at 804.249.9470 x15 or chris@safeharborshelter.com

 Safe Harbor was created to end the silence around this devastating social problem. Our mission is to break the cycle of domestic violence. Since 2000, Safe Harbor has been providing critical domestic violence services including: a 24-hour crisis hotline; emergency shelter; counseling services for adults and children; a women’s support group; court advocacy for victims seeking  protective orders in Henrico County; and customized community education and domestic violence prevention programs.

WRIC reports:

University of Richmond officials have confirmed a suspect is in custody after a possible gunman was spotted on campus Tuesday.

Update:

They identified him as Seth A. Newman, 19, of the 1700 block of Chadwick Drive in Henrico County.

Chadwick Drive is just behind Cheswick Park in the Near West End.

[Via].

Update  May 8th from the Times-Dispatch:

A search warrant for the University of Richmond gun scare suspect’s home says he went into a campus library on Tuesday and told a worker there that he had heard people were having sex inside the building.

According to the warrant to search the home of Seth A. Newman, a UR library employee said the suspect was wearing a sheriff’s jacket “stated to her that he was a police officer, and that he had heard that people had been fornicating in the library and that he needed to spend the night.” The worker “asked for identification, he did not produce any, and then left the building.”

Also, the warrant – issued yesterday in Henrico County – states that a person matching the description of the UR suspect was seen leaving St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged at noon Tuesday, shortly before the incident at UR.

Newman, 19, appeared briefly in Richmond General District Court this morning.

Photo is from twitter.

Officials at the University of Richmond tonight say the area has been thoroughly searched and they do not believe a suspected armed man spotted in the library earlier today is on campus or in the neighborhood.

“Police feel the suspect has left the campus and the area,” said university spokesman Brian Eckert.

Authorities, however, are continuing their investigation while the school will reopen as scheduled Wednesday.

The university is asking employees, faculty and students to be vigilant and report any suspicious behavior. Also, Eckert said, there will be extra patrols overnight and tomorrow.

After first checking Boatwright Library, where the man was reported seen between 2:30 and 2:45 p.m., police inspected other buildings on the locked-down campus and the neighborhood, Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe said earlier tonight.

[via]

Thanks to a vigilant female student at University of Richmond, a suspected rapist is off the streets of Richmond.

A man awaiting trial on rape charges in Hanover County had his bond revoked after a University of Richmond student said he had been watching her and acting suspiciously.

Timothy Hargett, 29, of Henrico County faces felony charges of abduction, object sexual penetration, and two counts each of rape and forcible sodomy.

In that case, a woman told authorities that she was raped and forced to perform oral sex early the morning of Dec. 2 in a car in the Mechanicsville area.

WTVR reported earlier this week on a stabbing at the corner of Westmoreland and Fitzhugh. According to the police report, it happend at 2:32 a.m. on Monday.

Westmoreland St. Stabbing

Richmond police are trying to find the attacker who stabbed a man in this area of the city’s near west end… It happened at the corner of Westmoreland Street and Fitzhugh Avenue this morning.

A man in his 40s was stabbed in the chest and the wrist. Investigators still don’t know who attacked the man or why.

If you have any information… Call Crime Stoppers at 780-1000