Those visiting the Yorktown waterfront may see more deputies during the day and night.
A shooting on May 28 and armed robbery on June 4 have prompted the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office to increase its presence around the waterfront, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Shelley Ward said.
On May 28, the sheriff’s office responded to a shooting near the fishing pier on Water Street. Investigators believe a 29-year-old man was trying to buy marijuana from an 18- and 14-year-old. Both teens were arrested, and the sheriff’s office named the 18-year-old as John Arthur Walker IV, of Newport News.
One week later, the sheriff’s office responded to a late-night armed robbery in the overflow parking lot at the corner of Water and Reed streets. Four people took keys and a cellphone from the 22-year-old victim.
The increased patrols will be “seven days and seven nights a week,” Ward said, although authorities are not releasing the number of additional deputies who will patrol the area.
Multiple deputies will be on duty at all times, she said.
Ward said the sheriff’s office assigns extra deputies, such as school resource officers, to the Yorktown Beach and waterfront area during the summer anyway, but recent crimes caused officials to allocate even more staffing in the area.
“We always had people down there who work the beach during the summer time,” Ward said. “That’s not anything different. It’s just the increase in deputies is the only change.”
Deputies will be looking for “any type of violation” that’s occurring, such as people climbing on the rocks near the beach, people with dogs in restricted beach areas, drunken drivers and violent acts.
