West Mobile Biz Owners Fed Up

West Mobile business owners say they're tired of being sitting ducks to crime and are taking matters into their own hands.

Some of the owners are sleeping at work to keep an eye on things. The complaints are coming from Dawes Road and Leroy Stephens Road.

Last week, the driver of a stolen van crashed through the front of the Chevron station to try and steal the automatic teller machine. Less than a week later, someone cleaned out the gas station's register. Owners say what happened at the Chevron is just a sampling of the problem. People out here are calling it a "crime wave."

Don Gomien is in law enforcement and owns a tanning and limo service in Leroy Stevens. He says he feels like a "hostage" to the situation. "I think the criminal element is taken over out here the police are losing the battle."

John Graham is a retired police officer and owns a gym on Dawes Road. He plans to spend Monday night at work. "First off, I'm gonna let em get inside. Then I'm gonna hold em til the police get here. I'm not a vigilante. I'm not angry at anybody but I need to protect my business and my income."

Mobile Police say crime isn't up in this area and there have only been 6 break ins since January 2009. "We haven't seen anything as far as a spike in criminal activity in that area but we do track crime and respond accordingly." MPD has been patrolling that area of West Mobile since the annexation vote of 2007.