I was sent this email at work today. It was written by a woman who my colleague's friend knows personally.

From my email (I edited and removed all identifying names.):

Ladies--

I had the very unfortunate experience of an "encounter" with the young punk assaulting women in the city (with the box cutter, in Gates Circle, Chapin, etc). I AM UNHURT AND OK. I was at Colter Bay on Sunday night & was leaving at about 10:30. I was parked across the street from Tempo. As you know, this is a very well lit area, and there was vehicle traffic, other people around & a lot of people at Colter Bay.

As I was crossing the street in front of Colter Bay, I noticed a young male turning the corner onto Delaware from Allen. I turned right onto the sidewalk & continued toward my car. There was a younger couple walking toward me. Although all of my friends were watching me from the windows to make sure I got to my car, thank goodness one of the guys I was with, recognized the young male based upon the descriptions from the victims & also from the photos published over the weekend. Not to mention that apparently, this kid was closing the distance behind me pretty fast!!

I made it to my car & got inside, & when I closed the door & looked up, this kid was right in front of my car looking at me, smiling & signaling me to get out of my car. I of course had already locked the doors. Anyway, my friend (who recognized the young male) confronted the kid & the kid ran off. We called the police & I gave a description to the P.O. & detectives.

This kid is exactly that, a KID. He has such a baby face. I estimated him to be about 19 years old. He was about 5'8" & 125-140 pounds. He is African American with a lighter complexion-very nice skin. Kind of a pug nose & very full lips. I didn't talk to him, but my friend described him as having a rather effeminate voice.

I thought he was wearing a white t-shirt, but my friend who accosted him, told me that he was in a white hoodie (My friend was behind the kid) under a black leather jacket. He also had a bit of a curly afro under a baseball hat (white front panel & red on the sides). He had baggy dark pants on (I couldn't tell if jeans or not). He was also carrying an over-the-shoulder bag, like those new ones the kids started carrying a few years ago instead of the back packs. He also had a dark plastic bag he was carrying.

We also noticed that there was another older male on the street at the same time that this happened who seemed to disappear when my friend confronted the kid. Also, while we were waiting for police, a metallic brown/champagne colored Ford Taurus pulled alongside Delaware a little farther down & sat for a few minutes before taking off. I don't know if these things mean anything, but I wanted to include them.

In talking to 1 of the ladies in my apartment building, there was also apparently another potential victim over the weekend on Virginia, near Mother's.

I'm sending this around to ask you all to PLEASE be careful--apparently we can't even walk alone across the street to our car at this point. I was stupid enough to refuse a walk but I was fortunate enough to have someone watching & paying attention & who followed his gut instincts. Please pass this information on as you see fit. Check the e-mail messages since I don't think I have updated addresses for a lot of people.

Thanks & be safe,

...

Elmwood not just became a "top-hoo-haa-village", it also became a mugging paradise, very unsafe for women. Try and gloat over that.

Hey there, Recycle Bin Robber!

For your kind information, recycle bins are FREELY AVAILABLE to all Buffalo denizens at each one of these very convenient locations:

C.P.C. International Marketplace; 283 Grant Street; 884-7812
C.P.C. Gloria Parks; 3242 Main Street; 851-4112
Community Action Info Center; 103 Wohlers Street; 885-5925
Parkside Community Association; 2318 Main Street; 851-4324
F.L.A.R.E.; 307 Leroy Avenue; 838-6740
Ken-Bailey Neighborhood Housing Service; 995 Kensington Avenue; 836-3600
Hispanics United of Buffalo; 254 Virginia Street; 856-7110
A.B.L.E.Y. Center; 24 Ludington Street; 895-4074
Northwest Buffalo Community Center; 155 Lawn Avenue; 876-8108
N.H.S. of South Buffalo; 1937 South Park Avenue; 823-3630
Matt Urban Center; 1081 Broadway; 893-7222
City Hall; Niagara Square-Room 218; 851-4890
HomeFront; 560 Delaware Avenue; 856-2952

Source:

The point of giving you this copious information is that I need you to reform your reprobate ways, return my recycle bin and get one of your own! Don't you understand my anguish?? I took a day off work to go to the city hall to get this recycle bin! Well... okay, that's a lie. But you stole my recycle bin; lying is less reproachable. However, to redeem myself, I must clarify that I did take the day off; going to the city hall was a priority on my agenda for that day.

Getting back to the point, I can't take any more days off work. This means I can't get another recycle bin. My recycling stuff would probably collect in a corner of my flat again, and I would soon have no place to live after being chucked out of my building for harbouring rodents in my flat. I would be homeless and roam the streets of Buffalo.

You, dear robber, would then be responsible for the atrocious crime of creating one more homeless person in your esteemed city. Are you sure you want that sort of guilt on your conscience?? Return my recycle bin and the world will be right again!

Sans Cheers,
Tinypliny

I wish I knew Spanish - it's one of most poetic languages around. Add to that some soulful poetry, it sounds like heaven. This song is one of my favourites; it's so full of life and nostalgia! The poetry is by the Don Atahualpa Yupanqui and the musical interpretation is by Paco de Lucia and Montoya. You just can't go wrong with such greatness. For full effect, shout along, in your most throaty voice!

::DOWNLOAD SOUND::

Noches de Tucumán,
luna la de Tafí:
¿quién pudiera volverse
para los cerros? ¡Ay, ay de mí!

Zamba para bailar:
arpa, bombo y violín;
recuerdo y esperanza
en los pañuelos. ¡Ay, ay de mí!

Suena guitarra,
fiel compañera,
repiqueteando zambas
la vida entera. ¡Ay, ay de mí!

Cerro color azul,
perfumado de azahar:
naranjales en Mayo
y en primavera los amancay.

Noches de Tucumán,
luna la de Tafí,
¿quién pudiera volverse
para los cerros? ¡Ay, ay de mí!

This is getting really serious! Ladies, have your whistles, panic alarms, and foghorns out and ready, at *ALL* times!!!!

From:

Suspect in holdups, sex attacks sought
Police cite similarities in incidents reported by half-dozen women
By T.J. Pignataro NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 09/27/07 7:52 AM

Buffalo police believe the same man may be responsible for as many as a half-dozen robberies and sexual attacks on women in the city dating back to last Thursday.

Detectives Wednesday night were piecing together what they believe were significant similarities in the attacks, which frequently have occurred around midnight.

The assailant is a black male in his 20s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall. He has short hair and often has been reported wearing a green or gray hooded sweat shirt that is usually left open. In a couple of the attacks, he appeared to be jogging. He arms himself with a box cutter.

"Women should be aware of this," said Dennis J. Richards, chief of detectives. "Women should be careful and are encouraged not to travel alone".

The first attack occurred just after midnight Thursday on Potomac Avenue near Chapin Parkway. A woman was forced to perform oral sex on the suspect.

Then, less than an hour later, another woman was attacked at Potomac and Brantford Place. The attacker jogged up behind her, displayed a box cutter or knife and said, "Give me all your money." When the victim said she didn't have any, the suspect said, "I am just playing with you," and grabbed her breasts and buttocks.

The next night, just after midnight, another woman was attacked as she left a gas station at Elmwood Avenue and Hodge Street. She was robbed of $300. The suspect asked for oral sex but fled when the woman refused.

Within a half-hour, a 30- year-old woman reported she was accosted by a man at East Delavan Avenue and Spillman Place near the Canisius College Health Science Building. He demanded she follow him to a parking lot where he pulled down his pants and demanded oral sex. She refused and he grabbed her breast and took $15 from her.

Just before midnight Sunday, a fifth woman reported being attacked in the 100 block of Richmond Avenue. The suspect ran ahead of her and then grabbed her, displaying a knife. He took her purse and wallet and then pulled his zipper down and demanded sex. The woman screamed and was punched in the side of the head by the suspect before he fled.

The sixth attack, which police were still trying to link to the other attacks, occurred at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday in the 100 block of Atlantic Avenue. There, the suspect peppersprayed a 30-year-old woman and ripped her purse off her shoulder. No knife was displayed and the suspect did not demand sex, police said.

"There are enough specific things done and said to believe . . . they are related and could be the same perpetrator," Richards said.

The Sex Offense Section and detectives are investigating.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact detectives at 851-4494.

Just to bring home the point, here is the Mugging crime map of Buffalo.



From a cursory analysis, I would say:
1. The attacker(s) is moving south into posher neighbourhoods.
2. The attacker(s) is attacking *earlier* in the day.
3. The attacker(s) is adding more "weapons" to his arsenal.
4. He(They) is athletic and probably stronger than your average drunken homeless guy.
5. He(They) does not care if you are young or old.
6. and YIKES. This is SO disturbing. :(

If so, where were you mugged and what was extorted out of you? Have you ever thwarted a mugging in Buffalo - either yours or someone else's? What are the ideal weapons that one should carry - would you be likely to be called into court or arrested if you stabbed a potential mugger? And lastly, where would one get the weapons of choice?

I got nearly mugged today, less than an hour back in the semi-dark sidewalk near Delaware and Summer. The creepy character was hiding behind one of the many parked cars on the south side of Summer. As I passed the car he was hiding behind, he tried to spring at me, but I dodged and ran the fastest 30 metres of my life, into my building and up 5 levels of stairs in under 2 minutes!

Though its flattering to find out that I can indeed run and that my lungs are not the mass of solid mud that I previously thought they were, its not so comforting to confront the fact that I could potentially be mugged and that it doesn't always happen to "someone else but not me".

I think its just awful that any creep can have a gun here. At least you can outrun people in countries where guns are outlawed, but unless you are one of those loopy characters in some crazy movies who can dodge bullets, how are you supposed to escape being mugged?? Talk about total unfairness!

Update: My brother just sent me this excellent article:
It has some very sound advice and I think I will just take it *and* get the loudlest little foghorn I can get, so I wake even the dead at Forest Lawn Cemetary, the next time I am mugged.

Update 2: I filed a formal police incident-report.