KCPD arrests juveniles linked to ‘dozens of crimes’ in Waldo, Brookside
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Police Department announced on X Wednesday morning that Metro Property Crimes detectives arrested two juvenile suspects responsible for dozens of crimes in the Brookside and Waldo neighborhoods of Kansas City, Missouri.
According to KCPD, the juveniles are currently in custody, however, the investigation is not over as more evidence is coming out that could link the suspects to other crimes.
Metro Property Crimes detectives have arrested two suspects – juveniles – responsible for dozens of crimes recently in the Brookside and Waldo area.
The juveniles are now in the hands of the legal system.
1/3 pic.twitter.com/v9qRbsHIZu— kcpolice (@kcpolice) August 21, 2024
This update comes months after residents and business owners of the Waldo and Brookside neighborhoods have complained about break-ins and thefts at their homes and stores.
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Over the course of that time, FOX4 has covered unsolved property crimes like car break-ins in Waldo and around the city itself. According to data from KCPD, more than 5,000 reports of car break-ins landed on the desks of officers in 2022 and 2023.
Brookside and Waldo residents and business owners were relieved to hear that two juveniles were arrested in connection with recent property crimes in the neighborhoods. Still, some are frustrated with how long it took.
“It was great news hearing that the police have finally arrested the two of the four perpetrators that have been plaguing Brookside and Waldo for the past six, seven, eight months,” one resident said.
“But it’s taken an awful long time for them to do so. I don’t think that they would have done anything, but we went down there yesterday and complained to the board of Police Commissioners and then went on air yesterday to tell them that this is unacceptable.”
In a panel discussion with neighborhood residents, the police department said that over the last five years, crime has gotten progressively worse after 2021. However, technical issues prevented KCPD from providing more data or informing frustrated residents about how to research crime data.
Officials with KCPD’s metro property crimes unit say solving these crimes is a priority for the police department.
“This is something that the police department has always taken seriously. Property crimes affect the widest range of people and citizens throughout the city,” said Capt. Rob Schreiber of KCPD’s Metro Property Crimes Unit.
“So it’s something we’ve always been very aware of, and we’ve always put maximum effort into solving the cases.”
Part of the problem in addressing the crime is police numbers, KCPD said. The department said it lost roughly 25% of its force since 2021 due to retirements or people choosing to leave. It was also revealed that property crimes tend to be more difficult to solve due to lack of evidence.
However, more recently, mid-day crime and threats of gun violence have also been an area of concern.
“Now, it’s happening in the daytime,” said Josephine Njoroge, a small business owner in Brookside. “Usually, crime was under the cloak of darkness, now crimes are being committed in the daytime as well.”
A prime example of this was seen on the afternoon of Aug. 17 when patrons at Bobby Baker’s Lounge, a cocktail bar in Waldo, were threatened with long guns after confronting a group of teens who were ransacking their cars.
“A customer of mine was in the bar and we have a video camera that everybody can see. So she saw a car pulling in the wrong way, reached out of their car, and pulled on the handle of a customer’s car,” Becky Hamrick, the owner of Bobby Baker’s Lounge explained.
“So they went running out to try and scare them off. The people in the red car pulled around, came over there, and pulled three assault rifles on my customers and basically said, ‘Do you want to die?’”
Hamrick told FOX4 that nobody was hurt, but the incident has raised safety concerns, leading local business owners and community members to speak out about rising crime in the area.
“The safety of my employees and all my customers is huge. That’s why we are starting to speak out,” Hamrick said. “City Gym, Jovito’s and Crows Coffee, some of the other businesses, and I are getting together and trying to figure out what we can do as individual business owners to combat this.”
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According to John Murphy, a member of the Armour Fields Homes Association, this isn’t the first time this has happened. In an interview with FOX4, he addressed another incident where a group of criminals shot up a home in the South Kansas City Verona Hills neighborhood.
After Saturday’s incident and the arrest of the teenagers, FOX4 asked KCPD for clarification regarding property crime and whether or not this most recent arrest was related, but there was no response.
KCPD’s post about the arrest, however, could mean that business owners and residents in the Waldo and Brookside area can finally stop holding their breath and continue on with their day-to-day lives.
However, the investigation is still ongoing.
“Going through any evidence and going through any video evidence that we may have recovered and look and try to find anybody else that we can hold accountable,” Schreiber explained.
“This is something that the police department has always taken seriously. Property crimes affect the widest range of people and citizens throughout the city,” said Capt. Rob Schreiber of KCPD’s Metro Property Crimes Unit. “So it’s something we’ve always been very aware of, and we’ve always put maximum effort into solving the cases.”
“The only reason they picked them (the suspects) up was because it’s become such a big stink in the community,” said Armour Fields Homes Association board member John Murphy. “The people of Brookside, Waldo, and South Kansas City are furious that it’s taken this long.”
The Office of the Juvenile Officer released the following statement to FOX4 about the juveniles:
“The Office of the Juvenile Officer has charged two juveniles in connection with a recent series of crimes in the Brookside and Waldo area. Those juveniles who are under the age of 18, are both in custody. Given the nature of the charges, no further information on their cases is available.”
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