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Austin gas station targeted by thieves, says APD response missing
A grocery store in Northwest Austin says if they call 911 they will be redirected to 311 and it may take hours for someone to reply.
Austin, Texas – A supermarket in northwest Austin is fed up after dealing with a surge in break-ins and shoplifters.
They said if they report these incidents to 911, they will be redirected to 311 and it could take hours for someone to respond.
“I’ve lived here my whole life and we live in fear now,” said Linh Tu, who owns a gas station on Research Boulevard that was recently broken into, something he thinks is happening more often than in the past. “My shop has a lot of shoplifting every week and we’ve been broken into several times in the past two months.”
One of his worries is when he calls for help, as he did with that previous break-in. “We called 911 and they ask us if anyone has been injured or injured and if you say no they will automatically direct you to the 311 emergency number to file a case report,” Tu said.
In October, Austin police urged residents to call 311 instead of 911 for cases they consider non-emergencies. This means that the police will not react immediately if the suspect is no longer there or if no person or property is threatened.
In the past, Tu said that after an incident with this new system, it would take about five minutes for an officer to arrive and he is not sure if or when the police will react. “The last time the guy climbed the fence, he’s been in a store for over five minutes taking the time to figure out what he wants, that pissed me off,” Tu said.
His employees are also worried about how things are going now. “It’s really frustrating because you don’t know if something is going to break, but help doesn’t come when you need it,” said Keyon Ward.
Tu said he doesn’t like the new response system and hopes the city will make some changes. “We pay the price, that’s the problem. Citizens, small business owners, we pay the price for the safety of our customers. I’ve never seen Austin like this and never thought Austin would become that city.”
FOX 7 Austin reached out to APD regarding these cases, they tell us they have no leads to follow up on any suspect. They classify these thefts as Class C offenses.
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https://www.fox7austin.com/news/austin-gas-station-targeted-by-thieves-says-apd-response-is-lacking
