Florida Keys News
Friday, October 30, 2009
Assault victims blame youths
BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com

A Key West Chinese food delivery man and a Big Pine Key woman were attacked by groups of young men in Key West this week in separate, but similar, incidents.

Both victims described their attackers as a group of three to four young white men, though police don't believe the incidents are related. No arrests have been made in either case.

"There's differe...

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I Bet That The Young People

Submitted on Sat, 10/31/2009 - 4:47pm
Were the product of the "hugging all" project that we have in our schools.. the famous "Challenge Day"!!!! Challenge Day teaches NOTHING to those kids, nothing at all! And as a former volunteer to Challenge Day, I know what I am taking about! I will not give my volunteering hours to that joke anymore! Challenge Day teaches NOTHING and gives NOTHING back to our youths!

thugs in the Keys

Submitted on Sat, 10/31/2009 - 12:21pm
Jeez, I didn't realize the lower Keys had these kinds of problems. I have been looking to spend over a million on a waterfront home. Guess I will start looking elsewhere in Florida where it's safer. Sad.

GOOD

Submitted on Tue, 11/03/2009 - 7:34pm
GOOD

thugs in the keys

Submitted on Tue, 11/03/2009 - 3:49pm
That would be great, actually. I hear Naples is beautiful this time of year.

.

Submitted on Sun, 11/01/2009 - 11:28am
trust me any were you is like that so deal with it its life

said it once...

Submitted on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 1:44pm
... will say it again. This news will eventually spread like a wild fire on the internet and the damage to change the perception of 'ol Key West will take years with harmful economic impact. I beg all level of leaders in this town (elected and otherwise) hold formal regular meetings on the issue of violent crime before it is too late.

If the parents of these kids were arrested and made to pay

Submitted on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 9:24am by *.*
for the medical damages they cause, I bet they'd learn to keep their evil seed at home at nights and act like responsible PARENTS, instead of allowing them to roam about town freely, robbing and attacking innocent victims. Problem is, these kids learned what they are doing from their thug Bubba parents so, even if they were kept home, I'm sure they'd not turn out to be better human beings.

kids make mistakes for crying out loud

Submitted on Sun, 11/01/2009 - 11:34am
if you people would make more programs and fun things for kids to do maybe this crap wouldnt happen ever think bout that.and you cant always blame the parents

Oh good heavens - it's not the fault of the CITIZENS that these

Submitted on Mon, 11/02/2009 - 11:59pm by *.*
thugs have nothing better to do than rob people. This is the most pathetic drivel I've ever heard! You must be one of the parents who think it's up to the taxpayers to entertain their seed. You people had 'em, YOU entertain them. You're too lazy to be a good parent, aren't you?

Betcha you took your brats to the Fantasy Fest Parades and Mascaraed March when they were 4, 8, 11 yrs old and kept them out all night, just 'cause you were too cheap to get a babysitter or too selfish to stay home and do your job. I saw the streets full of people like you at 11 PM Fri and Sat night, kids in tow, at an adult festival.

PARENTS should be parenting. PARENTS are responsible for their kids. PARENTS don't do their jobs. PARENTS are lazy and many times, these kids are just doing what their parents do and did. This warm-fuzzy-Conch-family-closeness is crap. The more I read of these thugs on the streets, and of course, they're Conch kids, the more I believe this whole 'family closeness' that we hear so much about is fake.

Conch Kids

Submitted on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 9:27am
There are responsible, great parents and kids here in Key West. I know lots of them, and I'm one myself. Like every small, large and in between town in this world, there are good kids and kids who have no respect for rules or the law. So, it's not a conch thing or a Keys thing, it's world wide thing. So stop lumping everyone into your crude comments. Yes, there are kids in this community who disobey the law and hurt people, but read any newspaper in this country or any another and it's the same way. You're speaking like all the kids in this community are disrespectful and bad and that's just not the case.

You poeple?

Submitted on Mon, 11/02/2009 - 7:19pm by notMac
Why is it someone else who needs to entertain your kids? If I had kids, I would bring them up in a place which has the resources to educate them and provide them with the skills they need to thrive. Are you talking about arcades and bowling alleys? They have those all over the country, so why do you insist on staying here?

Yeah

Submitted on Sun, 11/01/2009 - 10:47pm
I guess it's our fault, not theirs.

A real conch who watched "youthly" attractions being torn down

Submitted on Sun, 11/01/2009 - 1:26am
We had magic carpet golf, and what is it now?? We had Ripley's Believe it or not....I don't know... is it still there? And if so, have they added any new and interesting sights for the youth?? We used to be able to fish whereever and whenever we wanted, but now that isn't possible. My point is this, if there are no youthly attractions, or anything that is being built to stimulate or attract the youth, what do you expect?? Seeing things that they once loved being torn down all around them, introduces them to destruction. In no way am I saying that the parents aren't responsible for MOST of the behaviors that are instilled in SOME, not ALL of the youth, but what light is at the end of the tunnel when they wake up in the morning and say, hey, what can I look forward to today??? Drunken nude people walking down the street maybe?? Smoking marijuana to escape the harsh realities of what "fun and exciting activites I have here for me to explore", I mean come on. It is not all the locals fault. A lot of things have been introduced by adults that come to that island. I only go home for funerals, and dread staying to visit. One woman couldn't respect OUR way of funeral procession. People, read up on the history of the island, and stop being so selfish about what YOU want the island to be about. I would MUCH rather have the "Good Ole Isle of Key West" back. Damn, then maybe, just maybe it would be worth it financially and emotionally to visit every once in a while.

And..um, where did you go to school? Youthly?

Submitted on Tue, 11/03/2009 - 12:06am by *.*
Magic Carpet Golf was sold, if I remember correctly, by one of your own Conchs to build tacky condos. Ripleys is still here. DUH. You can fish but of course, but there are laws. Maybe you need to learn about that whole thing about living WITHIN the law?

Being exposed to drunks or to nude people doesn't turn one into a thug and thief. This is just a lame excuse for those who do not have a real moral compass. It's an excuse and nothing more.

The biggest culprits in the 'loss' of your old Key West, are your Conch brethren. They've sold out Key West for too much money, moved to Ocala, and now whine because they can't afford to come back. Hmmph...that's because they're the ones who drove the costs up artificially.

Bottom line, though, I really can't make a lot of sense out of what you wrote.

Youthly?

Submitted on Sun, 11/01/2009 - 10:49pm
.

try living in stock island

Submitted on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 9:12am
everything gets stolen people are all in your locked yard at night and everytime its a group of latin and white kids at like 2am walking around causing trouble.THE KIDS GET CAUGHT ,GO AFTER THE PARENTSYOU KNOW THE ONES THAT DONT WATCH THEIR KIDS ALL THEY WATCH IS TV.

Focus on the real crimes

Submitted on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 6:48am by Ed
These muggings are terrible. Wait until the tourists start to realize this is not a safe community. I have a suggestion for the police. Stop worrying about somebody smoking a joint, and stop harrassing bike riders in Bahama Village hoping to find some pot, and focus on the crimes that are important. This has to stop and while the police are arresting middle age white men for smoking pot, bands of teens are mugging and assaulting people all over town! By the way, I do not smoke. I just know when you have limited resources you focus on crimes that harm other people.

Too late

Submitted on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 11:00am
We come down 3 times a year and stay in Old Town. We walk everywhere we go and stay out late at night. Although any place can have mugging issues, we've always felt safe walking arounf Key West. With all the incident this year I think our already planned trip for New Years may well be our last. I we will need to hyper vigilant, we might as well try some new places to vacation.

Crime Wil Cut into Tourism

Submitted on Sat, 10/31/2009 - 6:14pm
Yes, it is true that tourists will stop coming. I've come many, many times and have family on the rock so I've always known there was a seedy underside to Key West. Nevertheless, these muggings are a new threat that most visitors will not tolerate. It's O.K. to visit when you know which areas to avoid and what streets to stay off of after 11pm, but when you have to worry about random attacks on any corner it's time to look elsewhere to spend your vacation dollars. After our Feb.2010 visit, which is already paid for, we'll be searching for another place in the sun. Sad...really sad. We'll miss the rock.

Get a gun and protect

Submitted on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 10:33am
Get a gun and protect yourselves. A bullet will fix these thugs faster than the police or their parents can. Problem solved.

Agreed

Submitted on Sat, 10/31/2009 - 2:55pm
Whenever you need the police in a second's notice, they are minutes away. Time to show these young bucks what it's like when the actual incident itself doesn't play out like Ludacris rapped about in the song. Don't worry, you can still freestyle and thug it in a wheelchair,... if you make it through after I'm finished with your criminal asses.

Focus on crimes

Submitted on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 4:00pm
Don't focus on drunk drivers and other less significant crimes and get the gangs of the streets. Key West is our town and we don't condone this behavior.It should be safe for all , no matter what time of day or night. Also, enforce the curfew that is already in place as law. Crime is't caused by Bubba's or Conch's, it's caused by criminals and we should focus on putting them in jail. If you don't like KW you can stay away and I'm sure there is no crime in NY, NJ, Chitown, Detroit or whereever you are from. This is still paradise and like all right now, we have problems to address.

The Truth is

Submitted on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 9:21pm
That it's going down everywhere. Even in Key West. Woman attacked and choked at her guesthouse. Body found wrapped in plastic in the mangroves. Cruise ship passengers robbed at knife point... in broad daylight. Look at the reality all around you. Where were the cops for these victims? What would have happened if they were legally armed? Would they have been made out to be a criminal instead of a victim or a potential victim? Think about it. Also think about what would happen if it were you. Would the police save you and your loved ones in time? It's your Constitutional Right. Protect yourself.Protect your family. It's happening again somewhere while you hesitate.
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