Tradd
5-13-15, 9:00pm
Given recent discussion about "inviting the man into your life" or not, I thought this was interesting as a real life example.
A woman was a victim of attempted rape on a Chicago L train. A guy gets on the car while she is being attacked, ignores her cries for help, and immediately gets off the car. He does not call police (CPD reported they have no record of a call about the incident). Fortunately, the woman kept fighting and her attacker got off at another stop. He was caught from surveillance video.
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Prosecutors-CTA-Sex-Assault-Victims-Screams-Ignored-By-Other-Commuter-303506711.html#
Not sure if you can see the following article from the Tribune or not (it might be behind a paywall):
Woman attacked on CTA: 'If you see someone asking for help, don't go away' by John Kass
http://trib.in/1HeibH9
[b]The woman who fought off a would-be rapist in a CTA Red Line car has something to tell you about the Bad Samaritan.
That's the man who could have helped her, but instead just ran.
And today, in an interview with this column, she explains her side of it, the side of the victim, who was alone and fighting for her life.
The woman was pinned to the ground by her attacker, who straddled her. She was screaming when the door of the train car opened at the North and Clybourn stop.
Another man boarded the car. She screamed for help, hoping the man would do something. But, she told police, the man took off.
Police said no calls about the attack came in from North and Clybourn around the time of the attack. The man I call the Bad Samaritan apparently did nothing to try to help.
And now she holds him in greater contempt than the attacker.
"Honestly I feel like I was mad at the guy who tried to rape me, but to be perfectly honest, I was more mad at the guy who didn't help me," said the young woman. "Because he didn't stop the crime, he could have helped me, but he just didn't want to, so I feel like ..."
She paused.
"That was worse."
What shocked everyone who read this story was that someone could have helped her but didn't.
"I had no idea why — I think he was scared," the woman said. "I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure that he saw me. I yelled really loud and I was yelling even before that. I'm positive that he saw us. (The) reasons (he didn't intervene), I have no idea."
Of course she has an idea. She said it herself. It involves fear.
Perhaps it was fear of being hurt or fear of confrontation. And yet, we hear so many stories about those who do get involved when there's trouble.
They're the folks who pull the driver from the burning car. They confront the bully. They shield potential prey from criminals. They are their brothers' keepers, cops and paramedics mostly, but sometimes just everyday people too.
They're compelled to help. And sometimes they get hurt. That's part of it too. Ignoring the risk is wrong. But civilized beings help each other.
And what of those who might not get in a tussle, but who show compassion, by calling for help or offering a kind word or saying, "Don't worry ma'am, your kids are here. They're fine. I'll wait here with them for the ambulance."
There are people like this in the world, too, and we shouldn't forget them.
Yet this man ran, and as far as we know did nothing. His face presumably is on CTA surveillance video, which prosecutors say captured the attack. I'd love to talk to him, to find out why he ran. At first, I wanted to condemn him. But now, I feel sad for him.
Don't you feel it? Sad for the selfish, sad for the fearful. Sad for him.
But what would the rest of us do? It's easy to say what you'd like to see yourself as doing. But saying and doing are two different things.
The 27-year-old woman got on the Red Line at the Fullerton stop around 5 a.m. Sunday. The defendant, Ronald Sparks, was in the car, authorities say. They did not know each other.
According to the Cook County state's attorney's office, when the train doors closed he approached her from behind. He began touching her leg. She pushed his hand away. And then, prosecutors say, he told her he'd rape her.
He pushed her down across the seats and grabbed her shorts and she fought back, according to prosecutors. She screamed. He covered her mouth. He pushed her to the floor. They fought.
And as she fought, she grabbed his testicles and he stood up and she screamed some more.
The assailant gave up at Clybourn and fled into the next train car, prosecutors said. The woman got off at the next stop, Division and Clark, and got help from a CTA employee.
The next day, a security guard spotted a man smoking a cigar inside a CTA train at State and Lake streets who matched a photo on a CTA bulletin. Police arrested Sparks, 34, who now faces charges including aggravated criminal sexual assault.
According to prosecutors, Sparks has a 2013 public indecency conviction in which he was arrested after masturbating in front of a woman at the Harold Washington Library.
Men like this surf the Internet for pornography, and their rights to view porn at public libraries are protected — in the same libraries that your children visit — and then something like this happens.
According to prosecutors:
"When the train stopped at Clybourn, a male passenger entered the same car that (the defendant) and (the victim) were in. (The victim) screamed for help, but the unknown male passenger turned and exited the train car. (The defendant) then fled into the next train car, leaving his cellphone behind. ... The incident was captured on clear, multi-angle CTA surveillance video."
But video didn't prevent the attack. She stopped her own rape, a woman alone, by fighting back as the Bad Samaritan was nowhere to be found.
And still, she wanted you to know this.
"Physically, everything is good," she said. "They checked. Everyone was real nice to me. I'm pretty happy about (the arrest) because this guy was already on record and he did something before wrong too. I guess it's good that the police can catch him.
"If there's anything I want to say the most, is that if you see someone asking for help, don't go away, just stop or at least help," she said. "Because he could have stopped the train, or called police or do so many friggin' things in the world instead of just running away like a chicken. I think that was horrible."
Yes it was. It was horrible. And so very sad.[\b]
A woman was a victim of attempted rape on a Chicago L train. A guy gets on the car while she is being attacked, ignores her cries for help, and immediately gets off the car. He does not call police (CPD reported they have no record of a call about the incident). Fortunately, the woman kept fighting and her attacker got off at another stop. He was caught from surveillance video.
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Prosecutors-CTA-Sex-Assault-Victims-Screams-Ignored-By-Other-Commuter-303506711.html#
Not sure if you can see the following article from the Tribune or not (it might be behind a paywall):
Woman attacked on CTA: 'If you see someone asking for help, don't go away' by John Kass
http://trib.in/1HeibH9
[b]The woman who fought off a would-be rapist in a CTA Red Line car has something to tell you about the Bad Samaritan.
That's the man who could have helped her, but instead just ran.
And today, in an interview with this column, she explains her side of it, the side of the victim, who was alone and fighting for her life.
The woman was pinned to the ground by her attacker, who straddled her. She was screaming when the door of the train car opened at the North and Clybourn stop.
Another man boarded the car. She screamed for help, hoping the man would do something. But, she told police, the man took off.
Police said no calls about the attack came in from North and Clybourn around the time of the attack. The man I call the Bad Samaritan apparently did nothing to try to help.
And now she holds him in greater contempt than the attacker.
"Honestly I feel like I was mad at the guy who tried to rape me, but to be perfectly honest, I was more mad at the guy who didn't help me," said the young woman. "Because he didn't stop the crime, he could have helped me, but he just didn't want to, so I feel like ..."
She paused.
"That was worse."
What shocked everyone who read this story was that someone could have helped her but didn't.
"I had no idea why — I think he was scared," the woman said. "I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure that he saw me. I yelled really loud and I was yelling even before that. I'm positive that he saw us. (The) reasons (he didn't intervene), I have no idea."
Of course she has an idea. She said it herself. It involves fear.
Perhaps it was fear of being hurt or fear of confrontation. And yet, we hear so many stories about those who do get involved when there's trouble.
They're the folks who pull the driver from the burning car. They confront the bully. They shield potential prey from criminals. They are their brothers' keepers, cops and paramedics mostly, but sometimes just everyday people too.
They're compelled to help. And sometimes they get hurt. That's part of it too. Ignoring the risk is wrong. But civilized beings help each other.
And what of those who might not get in a tussle, but who show compassion, by calling for help or offering a kind word or saying, "Don't worry ma'am, your kids are here. They're fine. I'll wait here with them for the ambulance."
There are people like this in the world, too, and we shouldn't forget them.
Yet this man ran, and as far as we know did nothing. His face presumably is on CTA surveillance video, which prosecutors say captured the attack. I'd love to talk to him, to find out why he ran. At first, I wanted to condemn him. But now, I feel sad for him.
Don't you feel it? Sad for the selfish, sad for the fearful. Sad for him.
But what would the rest of us do? It's easy to say what you'd like to see yourself as doing. But saying and doing are two different things.
The 27-year-old woman got on the Red Line at the Fullerton stop around 5 a.m. Sunday. The defendant, Ronald Sparks, was in the car, authorities say. They did not know each other.
According to the Cook County state's attorney's office, when the train doors closed he approached her from behind. He began touching her leg. She pushed his hand away. And then, prosecutors say, he told her he'd rape her.
He pushed her down across the seats and grabbed her shorts and she fought back, according to prosecutors. She screamed. He covered her mouth. He pushed her to the floor. They fought.
And as she fought, she grabbed his testicles and he stood up and she screamed some more.
The assailant gave up at Clybourn and fled into the next train car, prosecutors said. The woman got off at the next stop, Division and Clark, and got help from a CTA employee.
The next day, a security guard spotted a man smoking a cigar inside a CTA train at State and Lake streets who matched a photo on a CTA bulletin. Police arrested Sparks, 34, who now faces charges including aggravated criminal sexual assault.
According to prosecutors, Sparks has a 2013 public indecency conviction in which he was arrested after masturbating in front of a woman at the Harold Washington Library.
Men like this surf the Internet for pornography, and their rights to view porn at public libraries are protected — in the same libraries that your children visit — and then something like this happens.
According to prosecutors:
"When the train stopped at Clybourn, a male passenger entered the same car that (the defendant) and (the victim) were in. (The victim) screamed for help, but the unknown male passenger turned and exited the train car. (The defendant) then fled into the next train car, leaving his cellphone behind. ... The incident was captured on clear, multi-angle CTA surveillance video."
But video didn't prevent the attack. She stopped her own rape, a woman alone, by fighting back as the Bad Samaritan was nowhere to be found.
And still, she wanted you to know this.
"Physically, everything is good," she said. "They checked. Everyone was real nice to me. I'm pretty happy about (the arrest) because this guy was already on record and he did something before wrong too. I guess it's good that the police can catch him.
"If there's anything I want to say the most, is that if you see someone asking for help, don't go away, just stop or at least help," she said. "Because he could have stopped the train, or called police or do so many friggin' things in the world instead of just running away like a chicken. I think that was horrible."
Yes it was. It was horrible. And so very sad.[\b]