RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Residents of Richmond’s Byrd Park neighborhood say they’re concerned after a string of robberies across the western park of the city led to the arrest of two teens.
According to the Richmond Police Department, over a 10-day period, officers received several reports of robberies in the Fan, Byrd Park and Carytown neighborhoods, in which the suspects were reported to have similar descriptions and behaviors.
After an investigation done in collaboration with Virginia State Police, officers arrested and charged two teens — aged 15 and 17 — in connection to the robberies and say more charges are pending.
Billy Crum, who has lived in Byrd Park for five years, said armed robberies are not common in the neighborhood.
“It’s very concerning,” said Crum. “Somebody that would just walk up on people and just pull a gun out and try to rob them, and then come back two days or a day later and do the same thing right down the street, it’s very brazen.
After speaking with neighbors about the incidents, Crum said he found out one of them was a target — a mother four doors down from him who said a robber pulled a gun on her, demanding money.
“She was walking with her dog and her baby, and I was saying, ‘Have you guys heard about it?’ She was like, ‘Yeah, it was actually us,’” said Crum.
Corey Alexander, a resident of Richmond’s Northside who has been coming to Byrd Park since childhood, said it feels weird to hear about crime in the area.
“I don’t see crimes happening here, unless you have cops running through here all the time,” said Alexander. “So it’s kind of hard to have a high crime rate when you got cops coming back and forth through here checking on people to make sure everything’s going well and safe for them.”
These incidents are still under investigation, anyone with information is asked to call Richmond Police at 804-646-5112.
