Vineyard Confidential

The Myth of the Unlocked Doors

Break-ins on the Vineyard may be rare, but that doesn't negate the occasional naked trespasser crashing through your door: A Vineyard Confidential classic.

Most Vineyarders stand guilty of it: We don’t lock our doors; it’s too much bother. We tend to be blissfully detached from big-city paranoia. Maybe what it boils down to is we don’t believe we have much to steal. Some of us have never ever locked our doors, even when we scoot away to, say, Costa Rica. Still others have no clue where we stashed our original key some 32 years ago, when a realtor handed it over and sauntered away with a jaunty “Thanks for the commish!” kind of wave. Oh sure, crimes are committed on the Island, but if you follow the court log in the papers, most of the “perps”, if we may borrow a term from "Law & Order," have D.U.I.s, or they’ve assaulted someone. If you yourself happen not to live with a D.U.I.-ster or an …

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Holly Nadler

6:15 pm on Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Hi, Margaret, in an entirely different setting, i.e. Malibu, California where everyone locks everything, years ago I took out my car key and unlocked the door of the silver-grey Honda Accord that I thought was mine. Just as you did, I slid into the seat and realized this wasn't my vehicle. It shocked me, though, that my key worked for this other car; made me wonder if car manufacturers produce, …   more ›

Oak Bluffs Teenager Won't Do Time for Stealing Cash

Telling police he needed money for food and clothing after his parents died, a member of the MVRHS varsity basketball team admitted taking cash left in an unlocked home. Deshawn James, 18, was placed on probation until 2015.

An 18-year-old Oak Bluffs man charged with unarmed burglary, entering a building in the night time and larceny will not go to jail after admitting to sufficient facts in the case, according to court documents. Instead, Deshawn James, who plays on the varsity basketball team at Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, will be on probation for two years, perform 30 hours of community service and make restitution to his victims. In December, James admitted to police that he had taken cash on multiple occasions from an unlocked home on Grovedale Avenue in Oak Bluffs. According to the written report of Oak Bluffs Police Sgt. Michael Marchand, police were called to the home Dec. 5 to investigate “three separate incidents when different stashes of…

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Michael West

2:40 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013

I totally agree, and I regret the MVRHS principal chose to lean so hard on this. It is unrealistic to think kids wont experiment, especially with decriminalized substances, and it is equally unrealistic to think kids can entirely ignore peer pressure. The suspension is in my view draconian and inappropriate despite the ard line taken in the code of conduct. Does the principal think this will …   more ›