Location: the pathway leading up to my old house: 918 E. 54th Street
On June 5, 2007, at approximately 11:30 AM, I walked up the path leading up to my house after coming home from a biology final. I got out my keys and I opened the top latch of the outer door of my house. A man ran up from behind me, covered my mouth with one hand to keep me from screaming too loudly, and punched my forehead with his other hand so that I was on the ground. He demanded that I give him my purse and I didn't try to resist, but the purse was over my shoulder so he ended up bruising my arm to get the purse off.
The man then ran across the street into an alley and thankfully for me, there was an off-duty police officer nearby who ran after the man and saw his license plate number as he tried to get away. Also thankfully for me, this happened in broad daylight so there were at least 5 witnesses who called 911 so the police were there quickly and able to catch the man and have me identify him. The man who attacked me was a repeated felon who broke his probation so he got 18 years in jail.
It's been almost 2 years since then and the scar on my forehead has mostly healed and the bruises on my arm are gone. I just remember the flood of facebook wallposts and phone calls that came from that after Mr. Horvat (our principal) e-mailed everyone about it. It amazes me how big of a difference an e-mail from an authority figure can make on the reaction from people. Three years ago, my friend had his foot run over by a bus and had to get 17 stitches and couldn't walk for the majority of summer. But no one publicized it so only his closest friends knew and talked to him about it. Although I really did appreciate the support and the kind words from everyone, I was somewhat skeptical about how many people would've actually said anything to me without receiving Mr. Horvat's e-mail.
Then again, that leads to a whole string of 'What if?"s. What if Mr. Horvat hadn't sent the e-mail? well, then what if my ex-boyfriend's mother hadn't called him to tell him about it in the first place? What if my parents had actually picked up their phones and been there for me when I was sitting in the ambulance trying to call them and then finally called my ex-boyfriend because I didn't know what else to do?
I can't say for sure if the mugging is what led me to move downtown. I also can't say for sure if that's why my parents insist on enforcing a sunset curfew for me. But I guess that's all done now and I should really stop thinking about the 'what if?"s.
