I was assaulted here in NYC - beware thugs and police alike

(This was sent to our block association. Beware the police: at least in
some situations, they're useless.)


Assaulted on Dean and Fourth

The following is a current story in the New York Times:

"Crime Report Manipulation Is Common Among New York Police, Study Finds
By WENDY RUDERMAN
Published: June 28, 2012

An anonymous survey of nearly 2,000 retired officers found that the
manipulation of crime reports . downgrading crimes to lesser offenses and
discouraging victims from filing complaints to make crime statistics look
better . has long been part of the culture of the New York Police
Department." [...]

This is exactly what happened to me on Tuesday, on the corner of Dean and
Fourth. I'm just now becoming able to deal with it. Please take note: The
police are _not_ our friends, and in some circumstances, are not
responsive at all.

Around 11:30 a.m. my wife Azure and I were walking to our doctor's office,
at 185 Montague. We reached Dean and Fourth. We began to cross the street
- the light and walk sign were with us.

As we reached the middle of Dean, a white SUV swerved and literally almost
killed us - it had to be going at least 20-30 miles an hour. It came
within an inch of my body. I slapped the side of the vehicle with my hand
and yelled 'what the hell are you doing' - it was instinctual. The SUV
immediately stopped in the middle of the road and the driver got out - he
looked like he weighed around 250 or so and had a gold earring. That's all
I remember. He was screaming at me that he had the right of way and then
assaulted me, kicking as hard as he could; I still have the bruise. He
then got in the vehicle and sped down Dean Street. I remember that Azure
was crying hysterically; we were both in shock. Azure got the license
plate number and we immediately called the police. There was also an eye-
witness, a woman with a baby carriage, who said she'd never seen anything
so violent. We called the doctor and said we'd be late. The police came.

There were a policewoman and policeman in the car. I explained what
happened, and that we had the license plate of the SUV as well as the
witness's name and phone number. Then the troubles began. The woman said
it would be useless to file a report "because anyone could be driving the
vehicle - how would you know if it's the owner?" I kept saying, "Look, we
were almost killed, and I was assaulted." She then said I shouldn't have
touched the car. I said I didn't slap it hard, I wanted to get the
driver's attention. She then said at best I could file for "harassment,"
that I couldn't file for assault, because "you don't have any broken bones
and don't need to go to the hospital." I said I was hurt, and she said
that didn't matter; that I could have been hit in the face, and unless I
had broken teeth and had to go to the hospital, it was only harassment.

I then said I'd file for harassment. She said it wouldn't do any good,
the papers are just placed in a file and never looked at again. I said,
what if the driver did this to someone else? Is there any cross-
referencing. She said no, the file was dead, it was never looked at. She
then said she "hated this city." I agreed.

I didn't file; I was in pain, had to get to the doctor's office, and she
basically talked me out of doing anything. Meanwhile, again, we were
almost killed - I'm not exaggerating - and I was assaulted and hurt, and
apparently that meant nothing. By not reporting, she bravely kept the
crime stats down.

I was in shock for at least half the day, yelling at the doctor's office,
etc. I didn't know what I was doing. I would, now, report the event at
this point, but we lost the license plate information as well as the
witness's name.

Is this the kind of care and protection we're going to get when the arena
opens? I'm writing this to the block list (as well as sending it out
elsewhere) - people should know that there are attacks on people, as well
as property, going on in our area. And I'm still shaky - almost as much by
the action of the police, as by the perpetrator himself.

Thanks for reading, and be careful.

The NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/nyregion/new-york-police-department-manipulate
s-crime-reports-study-finds.html?_r=1