Williams: Communities must share outrage over robberies

The Chinese-food deliveryman zipped out of Oak Hill Plaza on Tuesday night carrying two orders from Hunan Gourmet on Mechanicsville Turnpike.

Heading east, his first stop was Bolling Court in eastern Henrico County. He sprinted to the door step of a town house, where he handed the waiting customer chicken wings, shrimp-fried rice, rib tips, french fries and a shrimp egg roll.

From there, he drove into Richmond's Highland Park, stopping in front of a home on Arnold Avenue. Three men stood in the yard eagerly awaiting an order of chicken wings, shrimp-fried rice, and chicken and broccoli with fried rice.

"You good," one of the men said, refusing his change. The driver pocketed the tip and cruised back to the restaurant.

But times have not been so good for Chinese-food delivery people in the Richmond area.

The spate of hold-ups dates to the April 12 death of a Chinese-food deliveryman in Highland Springs in Henrico. Last week, Richmond police arrested a city teenager in the July 27 slaying of a deliveryman in Whitcomb Court. And yesterday, Chesterfield County police identified a suspect in the Sept. 7 robbery of a deliveryman whose wallet was stolen after he was struck in the head.

The robberies have shaken local Asian-American merchants, who wonder aloud if Asian-Americans are being targeted.

Richmond Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood quickly called the robberies "a crime of opportunity rather than demographics." And indeed, I recently heard from a pizza deliveryman who described using a baseball bat to ward off a robbery by teens.

The Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce is pushing the idea of more interpreters in area police departments who can speak Mandarin or Cantonese. Tinh Duc Phan, chairman of the organization, said it already has provided such a list to the Henrico Police Department. The chamber also is exploring the idea of a workshop for newcomers to familiarize themselves with the region's dicier areas.

Sending drivers out by the pair or refusing to deliver to certain neighborhoods may not be viable for some of these small restaurants. "A lot of people, they have no choice but to deliver the food, for making a living," Phan said.

Hunan Gourmet delivers within a 5-mile radius of its restaurant. Delivery is a big part of its business, said an employee who, like the delivery driver, declined to give her name because she fears for her safety.

"So far, we are OK, because we are being delivered to regular customers and the driver is very cautious at nighttime," she said.

But if these robberies don't abate, even struggling restaurants may decide it's not worth the risk. When crime has the potential to shut down services to whole neighborhoods, it's not just merchants and police who need to take notice.

Neighborhood-watch captains and customers need to keep a watchful eye on the folks who bring food, greeting them at the car whenever possible. In the event of a crime, they need to promptly report any leads to police.

These communities need to share the outrage of Asian-American merchants and act on it. Otherwise, they could face a steady diet of take-out.

Contact Michael Paul Williams at (804) 649-6815 or .