Neighbors Of Beaten Elderly Couple Still On Edge

As NewsOn6.com reported on Wednesday, attackers kicked in the door to an elderly couple's home in North Tulsa, stole their car and left them both for dead.

Both 90-year-old Bob Strait and his 85-year-old wife, Nancy are in serious condition at a Tulsa hospital.

The couple's neighbors are still on edge.

They say they typically watch out for each other, but do not have an organized crime watch in place.

There are several ways that you can make your neighborhood safer.

There's a crime prevention program called, Alert Neighbors, that many Tulsa residents participate in.

But there are many neighborhoods that aren't taking action because of fear.

East Virgin Street is an unassuming street that doesn't normally see a lot of commotion.

"It seems to be an aging community, a lot of the people the people are getting older," Ronald Hinnen said.

So the sight of crime tape around the Strait's house is startling for those who call this street home.

An area neighbor once thought was fairly safe.

"I always felt like we just leave the door open and they did, too," Caroletta Avriett said.

But in light of Wednesday's brutal attack, neighbors, like Hinnen, are ready to take action so nothing like this happens again.

"I even made a post today on Facebook just to tell people to just be more conscious about your neighbor and looking out for your neighbors. There's more you can do," Hinnen said.

The best place to start is the Crime Commission.

The problem, according to executive director, Carol Bush, is there's a sense of fear in many Tulsa neighborhoods.

"They're afraid to get organized; they're afraid to speak up, and I can understand,"  Bush said.

Police have a crime-mapping system that allows anyone to track neighborhood crime.

News On 6 looked at a broader area surrounding the crime scene -- between Harvard and Yale Avenues and Apache and Pine Streets.

The crime map shows up to 10 burglaries just this year.

We compared that to a Midtown area, 21st to 31st between Yale and Sheridan.

There we found more crime reports,  up to 14 burglaries.

The best way to bring these numbers down is to take action.

Whether it be by participating in the Alert Neighbors program or by calling 911.

"They cannot assume that someone else is going to make that call; they have to be the one, but they can do that securely," Bush said.

Officials say to be especially wary of suspicious vehicles.

And remember, anyone can call 911 or Crimestoppers and remain anonymous.

Police believe the attack on the Straits' took place mid-day Wednesday, meaning the couple may have been laying there all afternoon before their family found them.

Thursday, police recovered the stolen vehicle and Police found the car outside a house in the 5700 block of East Easton Street. Officers say a citizen recognized the car and called 911, then followed the car to the home.

"They indicated that they believe the driver knew that he was being followed," Tulsa Police Officer Leland Ashley said.

There were five people in the car when the citizen started following it; three males, one female and one child. Police have taken the adults into custody for questioning.