What is happening to my town? Crime in Boone

We went out of town this weekend to the beach. Apparently it is a good thing we did, since Boone was struck by a crime spree of sorts.

Now Boone has always had crime. But things have gotten so much worse as the town has developed and grown, as would be predicted by anomie theory.

As a former Chief of Boone Police Department once told me, "Wal Mart is the worst thing that ever happened to Boone."

Wal Mart came to Boone about 15 years ago. That led to the further development of Boone, including the paving of a whole side of town. Gone are the local businesses and one of kind restaurants. Now present are the chain restaurants and hotels and miles and miles of hot pavement. Developers even flattened part of a mountain above all this to put in some apartments, so the pavement literally goes up to the sky.

Now that side of Boone--"NEW BOONE"-- is like "anywhere USA."

And now, you can find the same things in Boone that you can find anywhere else in the USA.

Guess what this includes? Crime.

Here is what happened in Boone while we were gone.

Robbery-Assault in BooneBoone Police yesterday investigated the robbery and assault of a man near Boone Mall.  The 6pm incident was near the bus stop that uses the mall lot for passengers.  Police found the victim near the front of the mall, suffering some injuries from the assault, reporting that he had his wallet and other good stolen, but that he struggled to keep his duffle bag, Full Story   Man Slashed in AltercationWatauga Sheriff’s Office deputies are investigating a disturbance at an area mobile home park from in which a man was slashed in the arm by a knife.  The 9pm altercation was at an address on Hensel’s Lane, Full Story Driver Darkens Perkinsville Boone Police have arrested the driver of a pickup that slammed into a utility pole on Perkinsville Drive yesterday evening.  The suspect fled the scene, but was soon found by officers, who charged Charles Saffer of Boone with a number of counts. Full Story Of course, the media here are as fascinated with crime as they are anywhere else. So this stuff makes the front page of the newspapers and the top stories of local news websites.