exceptional day until it happened.
the bicycle ride
to the harbor, aided by a lift out of the city traffic by the bus was
perfect. Early, as usual, i listened to
music on a deck over a marina, gazing across the masts towards the beach on the
opposite side of the boat access channel.
The motor sail to see the old sailboats was better than
expected, the crew, the food, the music.
I was energized, relaxed and happy to ride the distance home and to my
4pm appointment after that.
i saw him the same way i've seen certainly thousands of
others. transient, walking, lumbering...
no need to worry, they're mostly harmless and it didn't even register that he
wasn't one of the "mostly" until it was too late.
he'd lunged at me and grabbed for my groin. the bicycle seat and my left leg on the upswing
of the pedal, along with a hard motion to the right saved me from the intended sexual violation. he'd only contacted my leg. and maybe the
fabric of my shorts.
the adrenalin turned quickly into shock as i turned and
looked back at his large lone figure walking quickly along the pathway. there was nobody in front of me and the
traffic was whizzing by in a blur.
I called the sdpd non emergency number while turning my
bike and attempting to focus on my location for dispatchers. I stopped. maybe what happened didn't really
happen. maybe he stumbled. I hung up.
no, my gut screamed.
I dialed 911 asked for harbor police dispatch and described my location
and what happened while pedaling in the direction the man was walking.
the dispatcher urged me to stop following the man for my safety.
"retired le, at a safe distance keeping the suspect in eye's view"
dispatch "are you armed"
me "no, i'm following at a safe distance"
more back and forth
and then "oh shit, he just got someone else"
he'd lunged at a single female jogger, that had nobody
behind her to witness the act. he hadn't
realized that i was following him. the
shock on her face, her instinctive duck and the arm swing prevented him from
grabbing her breast.
the look on her face is seared into my soul.
now i'm pedaling more quickly, one hand on the phone,
while also signaling to the girl that i saw it and that i've called the police.
we followed him together for the half a block that it
took to be in front of harbor police station and i continued to keep him in
view while she ran inside to notify any officers that may be in the
station. within seconds armed plain-clothes
and uniformed men came running out and the detention had taken place within two
minutes.
I'm still shaken.
the man was taken to county mental health and
admitted. his history included assault
with a deadly weapon, but i'm having a difficult time allowing that to sooth
me. yay, he didn't try to hit me with a stick?
even in his stupor he knew to target lone women.
That you aren't safe running or riding the bay front alone.
Posts
