Racing Team: We hope everyone had a good year and finds themselves looking forward to even better and safer new year. We understand that Santa made a safe and successful visit to our community. However, knowing a bit about everyone’s behavior, he apparently felt he had to get out of here quickly and ensured that he stayed clear of the streets around Atlantic and Windward, and also Periwinkle and Niguel Shores Road. This year he strictly approached by air as he was concerned for his team’s safety. He took precautions because of tales about members of the famous Niguel Shores Racing Team speeding in unsafe fashion in these areas. I think Santa actually over reacted as this informal group of speeders generally operates only during week days and during peak traffic hours, not at midnight. From quite a few reports, the racing team is made up of moms and dads that operate sport utility vehicles loaded with children and no matter the speed these vehicles seem to be traveling, they are almost impervious to a speed bump.
These racers have generated a good number of complaints from concerned neighbors. Our Dana Point deputies are prepared to take appropriate enforcement action to ensure the safety of everyone. The speed limit for a residential neighborhood is normally 25 MPH. However, this may well be an unsafe speed and citable depending on conditions such as pedestrian traffic, other vehicular traffic, wet streets or turns in the road.
Thieves: There were no reports of Santa parking his sleigh on the streets and leaving it unattended while he visited and left gifts. He clearly knew better as the local thieves would have been on such an open contraption loaded with gifts like flies on honey. For instance, just after midnight one day last month they entered at least three unlocked cars parked on Windlass and got away with miscellaneous property, credit cards and over $3000 worth of video games destined for charitable causes. I am sure cars were entered on other streets and either no property was taken or the matter was not reported to our deputies. I am sure that it occasionally happens, but I am not familiar with a report of forced entry on a locked car parked in this community. Living in a safe community, we tend to become complacent and sometimes forget to properly secure our valuables. An analogy may be between leaving food out at night and attracting ants or even cockroaches. Last but not least, should you fall victim to a thief, report it to deputies. In doing so, there is a chance you may get your money back, the thief is caught with your valuables and, more importantly, it is in the best interest of our community and ensures that we receive warranted police attention.
By the way, did anybody see Pat O’Brien practicing his skate boarding the other day? Understand it was quite a show. God Bless.
—Tim Murphy
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