Last evening a black male about in his late teens or early 20s ame by my house asking for ''support''. He is very affable and is constantly smiling. He explained he wanted mony for books. It was so obscure I did not give him anything but I did give him my business card so he could email me to explain it as I had guests. I did not give him any money butthe ckaimed to neighbors on Brookfield and Yorkshire that I had given him money and that he worked for me; neither of which is true. So far 2 neighbors have called me to tell me he is using my name to solicit money. Disregard anything this guy says. It appears to be scheme to get people to give him cash or checks.

People asking for ''support''

Ray-
I used to live in the University of Memphis area and was an active member of a church on Highland for many, many years.

Over those years I saw the same guys using the same ploy over and over again. Never did anyone say that they wanted money for a bottle - they always needed money for gas (even with prop gas can in hand) but if you offered to go with them to the gas station and pay to put gas in the can for them they would evaporate as quickly as the gasoline vapors.
Then there were the guys who were always trying to get to some city not too far away (Jackson, TN, Little Rock, etc.) to see their sick little girl/poor sick mother. If you offered to take them to the bus station and buy them a ticket they would always have some excuse as to why they could not go ''right now''. We were nice enough to invite a couple of these poor wayward souls to share in a fellowship meal at my former church - trying to be good Christians. They came in, they ate well, and on their way out they carried off a weed eater and a gasoline powered blower that belonged to the church. We found them at the pawn shop up the street the next day. Such thankful souls....


ALL of these guys would show up at the soup kitchen at St. Luke's Methodist every Saturday afternoon, week after week, year after year. They had no where to go, nothing to do. Panhandling and occasional petty theft had become their full-time job.

Call them mentally ill (some were), call them con men, but either way they are a scourge on the neighborhood and always playing a game to get money for something other than what they are asking for.

These folks have begun migrating east along Park Avenue and Poplar. In fact, I have now seen some of the Highland Street regulars wandering these streets in our neighborhood.
Mentally ill or not they are up to no good and we should be doing what we can to get them to move along - either back to where they came from or maybe on out to Germantown.

As for the next time this guy (or any of his fellow panhandlers) wanders through your neighborhood I suggest you tell him to wait on the stoop while you get some cash, make a quick call to the police, then go back and engage him in conversation long enough for the police to arrive. At the least they are breaking the law by begging door-to-door. More than likely, they are casing the neighborhood for a return visit.

Recent Car Break-in

Hi,
I wanted to alert everyone about a car break-in on Hayne Road (closer to Park) last Friday evening. A friend of mine parked his SUV in front of my home. During a 4 hr. period, someone managed to bust out his drivers side window and steal his Ipod. The worst part is that this all took place while we were outside having a cook-out.
My friend called the police, but was told it wasn't a serious enough crime to send out an officer to make a report. (This means the crime statistics we see on the news every evening are even worse than we know since most of them do are not even reported by the police.)
These criminals have no fear will stop at nothing. Please report any crimes or sitings of suspicious individuals to your neighbors. Awareness can be our neighborhoods best defense.

-Your Neighbor