If you be my bodyguard I will be your long lost friend.
Today I was jumped.
I was riding my bike down Beverly Rd. towards Sunset Rd. at 1:45pm. I saw a car at the corner of the 2 streets and I thought "that's kinda shady" since the corner is just like a field of grass and they were letting one (out of four black guys) out of the car at the back-passenger position. He began walking back towards the intersection and pretty much directly in my way. I went to go around him and he jumped at me and put his arm around my neck and tackled me to the ground off my bike. Getting this? At 1:45pm on a Tuesday in a residential neighborhood in NEWARK, DELAWARE in early May.
So we are on the ground and I look down Beverly towards Winslow Rd. and I see a COP car driving towards us pretty slowly. I yell, "OFFICER!" and I hear the guy get up and call to his "boys" "It's the fuzz!" He starts to walk casually over to the car of his awaiting "possy" and he gets in the car. I go up to the COP and he says "I'm an off-duty police officer, what can I do for you?" I say, "That guy in the black shirt just tried to jump me." The COP says, "Stay here" and he drives over behind the kids and after they drive for half a block he pulls them over.
So at this point I'm standing in the middle of the intersection with my bike on the ground just sorta stunned. The best way to describe my feeling is when you know when you're about to give a presentation in front of the entire class and you're super nervous. That's how I felt. Not really nervous, but my legs were weak, my heart was pounding, and I wasn't thinking.
The police officer told all 4 of them to "stay in the vehicle" and after a few minutes, the guy that jumped me got out of the car and after being told several times to get back in the vehicle, he fled. After some back-up came, they arrested all three of the guys still in the car and they gave up their friend, who was wanted for stealing purses around Newark.
The COPS said that since the guy didn't say "Give me your money" or anything like that, they couldn't press "Attempted Robbery" charges against him, but I could press "Inappropriate Touching" misdemeanor charge against him. But since they were getting him on the purse rap I decided not to. They said that if they decide to pile on as many charges as possible on him, they would get in contact with me.
It was a terrible experience and the more I talk about it the more unstable my tone is and the more unstable I feel. I have more questions than statements of "FUCK YOU"s for the guy.
Why me?
Why anybody?
What made you turn to this kind of life?
Why werent' you in school?
What did anyone do to you?
I guess in the past I have been notoriously and confusingly forgiving of people. I THINK I forgive him, but I'll never know until I actually come face to face with him. The shame of it is that I'm such a staunch supporter of racial equality and fighting against hate and I pride myself on being comfortable with people of all races and creeds and now when I walk past a tough looking black guy I can't help but think, "Is this guy gonna be the next one to jump me?" I know it's terrible, but it's a huge obsticle I'm gonna have to overcome. With a lot of positive thinking and time, I think I'll be able to reach that point again. It's taking a lot for me to say, "It's just one shitty group of people. Everyone isn't like that. Don't let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch."
I was riding my bike down Beverly Rd. towards Sunset Rd. at 1:45pm. I saw a car at the corner of the 2 streets and I thought "that's kinda shady" since the corner is just like a field of grass and they were letting one (out of four black guys) out of the car at the back-passenger position. He began walking back towards the intersection and pretty much directly in my way. I went to go around him and he jumped at me and put his arm around my neck and tackled me to the ground off my bike. Getting this? At 1:45pm on a Tuesday in a residential neighborhood in NEWARK, DELAWARE in early May.
So we are on the ground and I look down Beverly towards Winslow Rd. and I see a COP car driving towards us pretty slowly. I yell, "OFFICER!" and I hear the guy get up and call to his "boys" "It's the fuzz!" He starts to walk casually over to the car of his awaiting "possy" and he gets in the car. I go up to the COP and he says "I'm an off-duty police officer, what can I do for you?" I say, "That guy in the black shirt just tried to jump me." The COP says, "Stay here" and he drives over behind the kids and after they drive for half a block he pulls them over.
So at this point I'm standing in the middle of the intersection with my bike on the ground just sorta stunned. The best way to describe my feeling is when you know when you're about to give a presentation in front of the entire class and you're super nervous. That's how I felt. Not really nervous, but my legs were weak, my heart was pounding, and I wasn't thinking.
The police officer told all 4 of them to "stay in the vehicle" and after a few minutes, the guy that jumped me got out of the car and after being told several times to get back in the vehicle, he fled. After some back-up came, they arrested all three of the guys still in the car and they gave up their friend, who was wanted for stealing purses around Newark.
The COPS said that since the guy didn't say "Give me your money" or anything like that, they couldn't press "Attempted Robbery" charges against him, but I could press "Inappropriate Touching" misdemeanor charge against him. But since they were getting him on the purse rap I decided not to. They said that if they decide to pile on as many charges as possible on him, they would get in contact with me.
It was a terrible experience and the more I talk about it the more unstable my tone is and the more unstable I feel. I have more questions than statements of "FUCK YOU"s for the guy.
Why me?
Why anybody?
What made you turn to this kind of life?
Why werent' you in school?
What did anyone do to you?
I guess in the past I have been notoriously and confusingly forgiving of people. I THINK I forgive him, but I'll never know until I actually come face to face with him. The shame of it is that I'm such a staunch supporter of racial equality and fighting against hate and I pride myself on being comfortable with people of all races and creeds and now when I walk past a tough looking black guy I can't help but think, "Is this guy gonna be the next one to jump me?" I know it's terrible, but it's a huge obsticle I'm gonna have to overcome. With a lot of positive thinking and time, I think I'll be able to reach that point again. It's taking a lot for me to say, "It's just one shitty group of people. Everyone isn't like that. Don't let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch."