Lincoln Heights police battle for control of the streets

CINCINNATI - Nine bullet holes pockmark Priscilla Phillips' home outside her bedroom.

Several of those bullets from an AK-47 assault rifle and a 40 caliber automatic dug into the 57-year-old grandmother as she slept.

Phillips is the latest victim in an escalating war taking place on the streets of Lincoln Heights.

"I 've been here for seven years, and this is probably the worst that we've had in a while," said K-9 Officer Henry Dawkins. "To where we even feel uncomfortable trying to do our job."

Doing that job and gaining control of the streets of this tiny village of less than one square mile is a constant battle.

The firepower used on Phillips' house is alarming.

"That would kill us in a heartbeat," Dawkins said. "Our vests won't stop that."

The latest cycle of violence began a week and a half ago, on Van Buren, with gunfire in Rosetta Franklin's front yard.

"The guy that got shot was lying... right in my driveway," she said. "The guy that shot him was right across my yard."

Last Friday, some say in retaliation more gunfire on Chamberlain Avenue, where Paul Rutherford was working as a mechanic.

"It was a whole lot of shots," he said. "So I just turned my back and just balled up under the truck."

Police believe that led to the attack on Priscilla Phillips' home. Her grandson, Perez Fears was arrested after a foot chase, less than a block from her home, as a suspect in the earlier shootings.

"We're going to let them know, you're going to follow the rules. Bottom line," said Dawkins.
    
That's a battle that won't be won overnight.