Ed Pettitt, who lives close to the Columbia Tap Trail, has been using it virtually day by day for greater than a decade. However, he has not too long ago been hesitant to make use of the path because of a sequence of violent attacks against cyclists during the last two weeks. The website online of 4 robberies and an tried theft, with one particular person being shot, the path has noticed a sequence of crimes that have raised fear some of the bike owner neighborhood in the community. Pettit himself has altered his path, zig-zagging around the path to stay a watch out for suspicious process. Houston Police Department Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite showed the dept is dedicating further sources to the realm, together with the deployment of undercover officials, to be able to battle the new wave of incidents. Houston City Council member Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, who represents the Third Ward as phase of District D, has additionally pledged to lend a hand battle crime along the path.
The Friends of Columbia Tap was once shaped partially based on a string of violent incidents along the path in 2013, with the issue ultimately being resolved when the ones accountable have been apprehended through regulation enforcement. However, a brand new wave of crime has gave the impression at the path as of May sixteenth, with many of the new attacks on cyclists involving a bunch of between 3 to 6 younger males or boys who’re Black. Satterwhite has mentioned that the dept has some leads, despite the fact that no arrests had been made as of but.
MotorbikeHouston Executive Director Joe Cutrufo, has referred to as the new string of crimes at the path as “devastating.”The path is a crucial asset to the neighborhood as phase of Houston’s infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians, however some other people would possibly keep away from the path as a result of of the new violent incidents. Cutrufo advises cyclists to ‘select the path that you are feeling most secure on’, including that those incidents spotlight the desire for on-street motorbike paths, along with off-street trails. Pettitt not too long ago spoke concerning the unsafe stipulations at the path all over a town council assembly, and the council has pledged to paintings against making the path more secure.
Regular customers of the path hope that the new movements through regulation enforcement and town officers lend a hand to convey peace again to the path, which they consider is a need for the neighborhood.