Photo Credit: Scottsdale Police Department
Every city has their own issues, very few American cities are entirely devoid of crime, and Scottsdale is no different. However, it’s had the luxury of having very little violent crime; often its issues come in the form of Old Town partying gone too far or domestic issues. A recent development has residents shaken, and for good reason.
A couple men were recently caught on security camera roaming through cars in the Optima condo complex at Camelview Village breaking into cars. While theft isn’t necessarily an entirely new development in Scottsdale, the footage of them openly sporting rifles lends itself to a certain brazenness that one would expect in a high crime area, certainly not an upscale area of an upscale city.
Residents that were interviewed were shaken, and for good reason. One of the reasons people pay up to live in upscale developments in upscale cities isn’t necessarily for perfection, but for the expectation that third-world issues will stay in the third world. That instances like this are things that you may see on your news feed in a big city far away, not in your cozy little enclave.
Why would thieves be so brazen? It’s obviously difficult to get in the mind of such people, but one has to believe that they are not professionals, and there’s a good chance they’re not from the city. Probably dumb thugs who understand force and don’t understand that that approach will be taken with a higher degree of scrutiny and heightened attention in a city like Scottsdale. There is no need to bring long guns after all; there was not going to be some showdown.
Considering the likely lack of experience and smarts and an apparent degree of desperation, one can also surmise that it may be a consequence of another sign of the times: fentanyl use. While the drug hasn’t ravaged the Valley as much as other cities, that’s not to say that it hasn’t been an issue outside of Scottsdale, and it’s reasonable to believe that a few addicts thought that they could head to the city and get a massive score.
Then there is another potential connection: organized theft. As you may remember, Scottsdale became the target of an international theft ring. While organized rings are usually smart enough to not be so brazen, it’s hard to not see a potential connection.
Regardless, perhaps that brazenness might be their outdoing. It is undoubtedly the wish of residents that it is in this case, and that extremely harsh penalties are enacted to make an example of these two. Hopefully residents can find peace again as a result.