From the May 23 Morton Times News:
Woman assaulted on the Illinois River bike trail.
By Nathan Domenighini
Times NewspapersA twenty-year-old woman was attacked Saturday on the Illinois River Trail, which runs between Morton and East Peoria.
At about 11 a.m., Tammy, whose name is being withheld for security purposes, said she was riding her bike along the trail when she acknowledged a man also riding a bike near her.
“I said ‘good morning’ to him (while he passed), ” Tammy, an East Peoria resident, said.
He responded. Tammy said he seemed to just be carrying on a friendly conversation.
After passing her, then letting he catch up several times, she said he fell behind one last time before speeding up and ramming the back of her bike, knocking her to the ground. He asked her if she was alright and apologized for knocking her down.
“At that point, I was just annoyed,” Tammy said. “Then, he just kept coming closer and closer and I kept telling him it was alright and to just move on.” Before she knew what was happening, “He jumped and grabbed me,” she said. “He pulled out a white rag with chemicals on it and held it over my face.”
Tammy then struggled and started barraging him with kicks and punches, she said.
“He had one hand on my helmet and one on my face,” she added. “I was screaming.”
“I started whaling him in the head,” when a Morton man approached on his bike to assist.
Tammy said the suspect took off before anyone could catch him. The Mortonite who arrived on the scene later road home with Tammy and they called the police.
She said the alleged suspect was in his mid-30s, slender, about 160 pounds. He had a buzz-cut hair-do, was Caucasian, but tan. He was riding a grey/silver mountain bike, she said.
The incident occurred near the hiking trail and Matheny Road where open housing lots are available.
Initially, East Peoria police officers responded before the case was handed over to the Fondulac Park District police.
Somebody had called the police after they heard screams, Tammy said. She sustained multiple scratches on her neck, “pretty good road rash” from falling off her bike and a sore neck, she said, adding she did not need medical attention.
Fondulac Park District police chief Mike Johnson said no suspects have been located because details are limited.
“We’re hoping it was an isolated incident,” Johnson said.
Park district police normally patrol the trail between 6 a.m. and midnight, he added.
Public intoxication and vandalism are to most common reports the park district receives from the trail, he added.
“It’s unfortunate that something like this had to happen,” he said. Auxiliary officers have been assigned to the trail, and Johnson said police are asking that anyone who notices anything suspicious call the police immediately.
If anyone notices anything, Johnson said to call his direct line at 303-2969, available 24 hours a day. People can also leave anonymous messages on the Fondulac Park Web site, www.fondulacpark.com.
Just a reminder that crime can happen anywhere, even on hiking/biking trails. I would suggest trail users always go with a buddy just to be on the safe side.
Hmmmm… the PJS didn’t pick this up though, huh? But, they found a way to put the East Peoria Bike Trail Expansion front and center on B1? Talk about picking and choosing…
The Propaganda Journal strikes again.
An attack on a trail doesn’t fit with their propaganda.
I take it back. The PJS didn’t have it this morning, but, it’s online now as of about 6PM.
The poor victim aside, it looks like crime can happen anywhere.
I’m sure CJ had nothing but the best of intentions in posting this bit about crime on a bike trail, plus his public service announcement on the buddy-system. But I think it is a bit of a cheap shot. We all know your position on the rail. I’m personally for a combined rail-trail. You rarely post on crime in any specificity. Methinks you post this story just to get people to draw the conclusion that trails might not be good.
If there were a blogger out there who was a serious trail proponent (is there?) and they posted about some train derailment or some hobo getting whacked in some veiled attempt to show that railroads are dangerous, you’d call them out.
Look, the rails and trails arguments stand on their own. They don’t need hyperbole, even if done subconciously.
If the trail proponents like to promote the increased ‘safety’ of a trail versus a rail, it is only fair to point out that crime happens. The trail might not be significantly safer in stark contrast to what promoters might assert as a benefit. It might not be worse either.
The issue is not that crime can happen on a trail. It has happened on the Rock Island Trail between Alta and Princeville. The issue is that the proposed trail will be routed thru some of the worst crime areas in the city. NO ONE WILL WALK/RIDE the trail alone in these areas, so why bother to build it?
Let the trains continue to serve pioneer Park and let some darn job growth occur.
Point is, crime can’t happen on a trail, certainly not at 11:00 am on a Sat. morning, because thousands of people are using that trail, right? That’s what the Rabid Trail Advocates say with a straight face. Hyberbole, anyone?
Mahnko,
If CJ wanted to link the issues, he should of. As someone above said, crime can happen anywhere. Contrary to the Mouse, I’m not sure any trail advocate has said the trail would be crime free. (It may, in fact, be safer, but that would be tough to prove.) But by not saying anything about the Kellar Branch in his post, CJ is just trying to play cute.
No, its the PJS that is trying to play cute. They finally publish a story (after the Chronicle points out their failure) and try to turn it into an editorial for more trails. Except maybe for “Just Some Guy”, most people see them for what they are.
I printed the story simply because the Journal Star (up to that point) had not printed it, and I thought it would be of interest to my readers. I didn’t tie it in to the Kellar Branch because it’s not related to that issue, except perhaps tangentially.
Although, now that we’re on that tangent, I would simply state that I have never seen a report of a rail car falling on a hiker or bicyclist or a pedestrian getting hit by a 10 mph train, but I have seen three or four reports of hikers/bikers getting assaulted on trails just within the past couple of years. Trail supporters are quick to question the safety of building the trail next to the rail line, but events like this show that issue to be a red herring. The bigger safety issue is assault.
But seriously, I did not print this article as an argument against turning the Kellar Branch into a trail. There are plenty of other good arguments on that front. Rather, I’ve been reading Jane Jacobs’ book, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” and she argues in there that parks (she doesn’t speak of trails per se) are less safe than busy urban streets. In cities where there is a lot of activity on the streets, that can actually be the safest place because of all the “eyes on the street” — people who live/work on the street and are keenly aware when something is not right or out of the ordinary. Parks, in contrast, don’t have a lot of people in them and thus are more inviting to crime. She’s not arguing against parks, but she does argue against excessive green space and she argues against spurious reasons for creating more green space. If you haven’t read it, check out the book — it’s a very interesting read.
Downtown Chicago stresses me out. I can’t handle the sensory overload and the amount of people. Once on our way to dinner a little north of downtown a friend and I walked down a quiet, no one around, residential type street, before getting to the restaurant. I remarked “This is nice; I feel so much better about this.†Her response, “ Really? Someone could rape and kill us and no one would even know, hahaha.†Gee thanks, now I can be anxious around all the activity and neurotic when there is none.
BeanCounter, if you are a woman (personally and in general), you pretty much aren’t safe anywhere.
I am a woman and I’ve pretty much boiled my safety concerns down to this. But I’m a pretty tall woman (5’10” without shoes) and am of the opinion that we get attacked less frequently because of the height factor. I’ve never been attacked personally, save by my two little boys practicing for their pro-wrestling careers.
I thought briefly about why CJ posted this article (rail/trail), but then my brain simply focused in on “JEBUS – it was 11 am and it sounds like this guy looked non-skeevy and legit and all that -and then he came up behind her with chloroform on a rag. Dude, that’s premeditated in a big way. How in God’s name did the EP Police turn this over to the Park Police? Are they high? This sounds like a serious predator! He knows where to make his attack (by the vacant lots) and is confident enough to make it in broad daylight!”
So who gives a rat’s ass about the rail or the trail! Where are all of the voices screaming that this was premeditated in that he seems to have planned it if not picked her ahead of time, and the guy wasn’t a random bum on the street???!!! Ted Bundy was a charming guy, and she apparently though this guy was nice enough too.
We have often pointed out that if the trail ran along side the rails with the freight and trolley running on the Kellar Branch that the hikers and bikers would be far safer with all the extra eyes on the train and nearly all of them with cell phones. The trains would actually be of protection benefit to the trail. But alas, no one wants to see that and all they can talk about is a train falling over on a group of boy scouts.