Don't be lulled by low homicide numbers

We're through the hot, humid and dangerous months of July and August, and so far this year in Baltimore, 148 people have been killed. That's down from 210 at this time last year.

Homicides are down. Baltimore is safer.

Emilia Miller certainly doesn't feel that way. She's a 66-year-old visitor from Jennings, La., here to see her daughter and son-in-law, who live in Laurel, and to have her slipped disc repaired at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

The three spent Sunday in Baltimore eating lunch at Mount Vernon Stable on North Charles Street and watching Helena Troy - a play about reviving an ancient bankrupt playhouse - at the Spotlighters Theatre on St. Paul Street. It was 1:30 in the afternoon.

To get to the theater's will-call window, patrons have to descend to an alley. Miller, with her bad back, moved a bit slower than her companions. Her son-in-law, Michael Brand, was at the bottom and her daughter, Claudia Brand, was about halfway down when Miller took her first step off the St. Paul Street sidewalk.

That's when a teenager lunged at her, grabbed her pack and according to police, dragged Miller eight to 10 steps before pulling it free. The assailant threw it to another young man who ran away. Michael Brand gave chase as a motorist dialed 911.

Police spokesman Donny Moses said the pursuit went up St. Paul and onto Chase Street, where the suspect turned with a knife and told Brand, "I'll cut you if you don't stop following me." He continued running, but police officers quickly arrested Dajuan Daward, 16, who gave an address of Middle River, and charged him as an adult with armed robbery and assault.

Michael Brand said his mother-in-law is physically fine but shaken. "She's from a small town and is not used to this."

Claudia Brand works as a nurse at Hopkins Hospital, and the couple visits the city nearly every weekend. They frequently attend Spotlighters, which according to its Web site provides a place for new actors to "refine their skills." The Brands had never before been victims of crime.

Michael Brand sent me an e-mail, saying he wanted the attack publicized "as a warning to other tourists (and Baltimore Residents) to be extra cautious and watchful when strolling around Mt. Vernon."

He also wants the second suspect arrested. He's the one who has his mother-in-law's black leather pack, which contained $25, a Nikon digital camera, a gold-colored watch with Roman numerals and a black band, her identification and her medical records. Police had no detailed description of the man.

It's easy to be smug and name a neighborhood where crime "isn't supposed to happen" but all too often does. Crime happens in good neighborhoods and in bad (remember the two fatal shootings in Federal Hill?) and should never be accepted as routine.

Spotlighters Theatre, on St. Paul just north of Madison Street, is on a block that seems typical of a city. There are wide rowhouses carved into apartments. A homeless shelter is down the street, as is a seedy-looking hotel. There's also a popular bookstore cafe and a laundromat. It's not Mount Vernon Place, just one block south, with its shaded gardens. Nor is it a drug corner.

When asked about the robbery, Moses, the police spokesman, had all the right words: "Mount Vernon is a pretty safe neighborhood. This is an historic neighborhood in the city, and we want people to feel safe in the area."

I thought Michael Brand also had it right. "This taught us to become more vigilant then we have been," he said. "We had been lulled into a false sense of security. No American city is really safe."

Brand said he will return to Baltimore for more lunches and plays. That should come as no surprise. He and his family didn't even miss the play Sunday. Along with his wife and freshly robbed mother-in-law, they saw every act of Helena Troy.

Michael Brand reports they had a wonderful time.

Related topic galleries: Nikon Corp, Religious Leaders, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Murder, People, Theft, Medical Conditions

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