Advocacy & Safety - Daylight attack on a biker

I don't know how many people outside of the NYC area might have heard this disturbing news. On Tuesday, at around 12 noon, a 33 year old female biker was attacked by a homeless man in Prospect Park. The attack was interrupted by a cop on scooter patrol who became suspicious after seeing a bike abandoned on the roadway. In spite of the cop's intervention, the woman suffered major blood loss, a broken jaw, and loss of vision in one eye. I ride in Prospect Park several times a week and have always felt very safe on the bike paths. Scary!! Lorraine

On my local trail on Long Island, NY a woman jogger was attacked by a man on a bicycle, another cyclist put a stop to it and from what i have heard the attacker got away on the cyclist who stopped the things bike. she wasnt seriously injured, but it was in broad daylight.

Sadly, these sorts of things happen. Homeless people, while generally harmless, are often mentally ill. Some, just like CIO's of major companies, are criminals.

My heart goes out to the victim and my thanks to the people that risked their own lives to intervene.

Paul

OK, this will be seen as yet another anti-bike path rant, but I'm going to say it anyway. I don't know about your parts of the world, but has anyone ever noticed that these things always seem to go through, shall we say, "dodgy" areas? If they're not areas where you're likely to be attacked, they're areas with other hazards (such as low-lying land near creeks that frequently floods).

I had a scare a few months ago on our local bike trail. I heard a rumor a few weeks ago that a college girl who was jogging alone was raped on the trail. No way am I going back there until it is cleaned up.

Let's not forget- this is a tragedy... it could happen anyplace dodgy, though. Remember the incident in Chicago just a couple of weeks ago where a guy on a bike was shot to death riding on the street by a guy in a car?

Any way you look at it, an attack on a cyclist is a damn shame- did they mention if the guy was crazy or why he attacked the cyclist?

My prayers go out to the cyclist. Good thing the police were patrolling the area well.

Koffee

the one near me stated second from the top was not in a "shady" are at all

Originally posted by Chris L
OK, this will be seen as yet another anti-bike path rant, but I'm going to say it anyway. I don't know about your parts of the world, but has anyone ever noticed that these things always seem to go through, shall we say, "dodgy" areas? If they're not areas where you're likely to be attacked, they're areas with other hazards (such as low-lying land near creeks that frequently floods).
I am very familiar with the type of bike path you're talking about but the Prospect Park bike path is not like that. It is a wide open path in a public park in a heavily populated area of Brooklyn. There are two lanes for motor vehicle traffic, one for joggers or walkers and one for bikers. At the time the woman was attacked, the park was closed to motor vehicle traffic. Usually the bike path is very heavily used, but on Tuesday, when the attack occurred it was kind of drizzly, so likely there were not too many people around.

All incidents are horrible.

Unfortunately it appears to be a reflection of where our society ... at least a growing portion ... seems to be headed.

Hmmm, when I read this story in the NY Times, it was about a female jogger and a recently released sex offender. Same incident, two different incidents, or just urban legend?

The fact is, the risk of this happening is probably less than the risk of being struck by lightning, dying from a bee sting, or being injured in a fall from a ladder; and is certainly much less than the risk of being killed in a motor vehicle accident or dying from smoking cigarettes.

People are funny when it comes to the very serious voluntary risks they will tolerate, engage in willfully or even promote (e.g. driving and smoking); yet incidents involving other involuntary risks with very low probabilities (attack in the park) are blown way out of proportion.

Mind you, I sympathize with the victim, and I'm not condoning the breakdown in civility that seems to becoming more widespread in our society, and results in incidents such as this one; however, neither am I advocating the general drift towards establishment of a police state, which is usually part of the 'official' response to these types of incidents.

We need to put these incidents in their proper perspective. There are social and psychological causes for these types of dysfunctional behaviors, and the increasing frequency of these incidents is a warning sign that our society and or social systems are not functioning properly and that the 'patient' is not well....

I remember reading that John Allen (www.bikexprt.com) was stopped by a policeman and was ordered to get off the road and use the adjacent bike path. This is the law in many places, that an officer can command a cyclist to do so.

Mr. Allen successfully reasoned with the officer that using the path was too risky, since a friend of his had been mugged on that path.

Nonetheless, incidents like this attack can happen to anyone in spite of the time of day or perceived safety of a particular area.

Originally posted by Pete Clark
Nonetheless, incidents like this attack can happen to anyone in spite of the time of day or perceived safety of a particular area.

This is the type of paranoia that prevents people fron leaving their cars, even though the probability of these types of incidents happening are statistically almost zero.

Nonetheless, incidents like this attack can happen to anyone in spite of the time of day or perceived safety of a particular area.


Originally posted by randya
This is the type of paranoia that prevents people fron leaving their cars, even though the probability of these types of incidents happening are statistically almost zero.
What do statistics say are the chances of being assaulted by a pedestrian, while riding a bike home lawfully in afternoon rush hour traffic, in plain sight of scores of motorists, in an otherwise quiet suburban area, sending the victim to the hospital with permanent facial scarring, though the perpetrators stole nothing?

I'd say the chances of that are about 1 in 1,000,000. But it happened to me.

A paranoid person would use this to justify staying indoors. I went back to riding as soon as I healed. But I'd say most of my co-workers thought I was crazy!

:D

Shyte like this happens a lot.

A friend of mine had it happen to him at 1 in the afternoon except he was not injured, clipped in and the guy could not take the bike after pushing him over.
He actually tried to drag my friend w/the bike.We had a good laugh about that.
By the time this fellon realized the bike was attached to the rider 2 bystanders had jumped him and restrained him untill the cops arrived. The guy had previous convictions and 2 warrents out for his arrest.


:beer:

I'm not saying these incidents don't happen; I just dislike playing them up and bringing the fear factor into play. The point I was trying to make previously is that people take lots of risks doing something they are familiar with (again, driving and smoking are probably the best examples, although eating unhealthy food is probably right up there, too); but become unnecessarily fearful of the dangers and risks of doing something they are unfamiliar with, or have little personal control over, even when those risks are very small. Playing up these incidents in the press is very negative for cycling or for that matter any activity where people must leave the supposed 'safety' of their car, house, office building, etc.

The thing is you can never tell who might hang out in a park, even during the daylight hours. Let's face it, there is no shortage of mentally ill homeless people in NYC- a tragedy of the health care system that just dumps them out there. They can be anywhere, as can other dangerous characters, so you can't just stay home and avoid everything.

Last month some poor woman was murdered in a bike path-an area just outside ottawa frequented by mountain bikers. It's not some narrow,dark little single track. It was a wide track big enough for a car and right near a road. But that's the danger in offroad areas sometimes, that they can offer enough camouflage for guys like that. Apparently, other women had been approached by a guy in that area. Someone actually saw her walking very closely with the suspect, which means either she knew or was familiar with him or he had her in a grip and had a knife to her ribs. SHe was found dead a few days after disappearing. ANd ottawa is not exactly known for being a center for violent crime, although of course it happens.

My advice is don't go offroad alone, and stay away from 'dodgy' areas. But you can't predict everything, so just be careful and vigilant.

My "day" job is from 4-12 a.m. I've commuted to & from work through Central Park 5 days a week for the past 3 years, as I'm afraid of terrorism while riding the subway. Alright, just kidding about the last part of that sentence. I just hate waiting for lameass public transport when I own 3 other modes of transport... an mtb, blades and a road bike. I cut through the north end, which is the heavily wooded side of the park known as the "ramble". I often see the same creatures depending on time of season... rats, bats, (stray) cats, dogs, racoons, mice, geese, squirrels and LOTS of insects. I also pass the NY Police at least once during the transverse. There are a handful of other commuters on bikes and blades whom I see as well. Central Park or any park is dangerous if you present yourself as a target. Criminals are looking for the easy hit. It's much harder to mug a cyclist moving at 30 mph than a jogger, obviously. Maybe speed is the reason I've had '0' incidents during the midnight commutes. Or the thorough Police presence. Who knows. People walking still get mugged in Central Park (at any time of day), but, I've yet to hear of a cyclist or blader in the same situation. I also believe the lady victimized in Prospect Park was on foot and by herself. A can of pepper spray would have prevented that entire incident. Spray the eyes, kick the balls. Simple. Take a self-defense class as well. They're worth their weight in gold. And remember all you NY'ers MTB, not MTA. As Tony Montana would say, "Close those f__kers down"! :beer:

Steve

On weekends I ride upstate by New Paltz or the Bard College area...sure beats Manhattan!

A freak near me on the yough river trail was recently seen in the nude humping a rock, he was wearing only a condom and he had restraints and some sort of handcuffs with him, charged with open lewdness and public nudity. I belive he was looking for someone to ****. I am a trail monitor in the area, he is lucky I did'nt find him.

While this is certainly a bad incident, I don't think blowing it out of proportion helps. Bad things happen in every neighborhood in every city or town, trust me, I see it every day at work. No place is crime free.

Bear in mind that police are to respond to a problem, not prevent problems. Police administrators talk about crime prevention, and there are a few things that can be done, but crime prevention by police is hit or miss. You alone are responsible for your personal safety. While riding with someone can help, unless that person is Bruce Lee or an armed bodyguard, they may be of little to no help. Pepper spray is an option, but it is not 100% effective, and once sprayed in an area, it is indiscriminate in who it affects. Self defense classes can be good or bad, depending on who teaches them. The biggest thing is to be aware of what is happening around you. If you ride/walk/drive with your head up your butt thinking about something other than what you are doing, you will have a problem. If you see a person who is potential threat, avoid them if possible, deal with them if you must, and if it comes to a fight, fight with everything you have and do not give up.

There are two kinds of animals in the world, prey and predators. Decide which you want to be.

Good advice Geraldo. Unfortunatly tose folks that like in NYC can't even have a decient knife much less a gun so if the perp is too big the victum is still in trouble. Even the mentally ill are unlikely to pick on some one bigger than they are or multiple people traveling together.

For some reason the media needs to try and keep us scarred. Maybe it sells them better so they hype it up a lot.

Joe

Joe, Good point on media and fear. Confidence won't make good headlines.

I'm also aware of NYC laws on weapons, my point is that awareness will generally save you, whether from traffic or hostiles.

As Steinbeck's says, "the final weapon is the brain, all else is supplemental".

Originally posted by Geraldo

I'm also aware of NYC laws on weapons, my point is that awareness will generally save you, whether from traffic or hostiles.

As Steinbeck's says, "the final weapon is the brain, all else is supplemental".

Yes awareness is crutial and may be enough.

Thanks I wonderd who said that. I paraphrase it to "The weapon is my brain, the gun/knife/bat is just the tool. Glad it was John I always liked his writting even if some of it was morbide.

Joe

I agree, the corporate media play a large part in creating unrealistic fears & in general distorting the reality of the average person, who's unwilling or unable to go beyond the TV news or commercial press for their information.

Many more people die from alcohol than all the illegal drugs combined, but how much do you see on TV about alcoholism?

Neither do they have incessant, graphic coverage of the annual bloodbath on the highways as they do about illegal drugs.

Corporate crime is also treated only sporadically, while street crime involving minorities is heavily emphasized.

It's important to note that contrary to the current commercial media trend of portraying mentally ill people as dangers to society, studies show that the mentally ill as a group are not any more violence-prone than the non-diagnosed population.

To mention in a news article that a perpetrator is a "former mental patient" is no more relevant than saying that s/he is a lapsed Baptist or ex-Girl Scout.

But it certainly is harmful to the emotionally ill themselves & to efforts to restore funding to the mental health programs gutted by recent Democratic & Republican administrations, with the complicity of the general public.