Hip, hip, hurray for the two women who, in separate incidents,
fended off an assailant on the levee near Uvas Park Preserve last
Sunday! Both women showed great presence of mind. At the risk of
being repetitive, I would like to point out all the things they did
right.
Hip, hip, hurray for the two women who, in separate incidents, fended off an assailant on the levee near Uvas Park Preserve last Sunday! Both women showed great presence of mind. At the risk of being repetitive, I would like to point out all the things they did right.
1. They were alert to their surroundings. The first woman noticed the man at the side of the trail while she was running north on the levee near the Wren Avenue. After she finished her northward distance, she turned back, and saw the suspect again. He stepped in front of her, grabbed her and tried to force her into the bushes.
2. They fought back. The first woman screamed, kicked, and broke away. The second woman, who was riding a bicycle when she was grabbed 15 minutes later, also fought off the attacker.
3. They got away, the first by running, the second by riding.
4. They reported the attacker to the police. Therefore, after publication in the Dispatch, all Gilroy now is aware of the danger. Vulnerable women can take precautions.
5. They gave a good description. Therefore everyone can keep a look out. With luck, we will catch him before he attacks a weaker woman or girl.
My friend Sandi Zappa and I were discussing the attacks the other night, and were overcome by a joint wave of nostalgia. Christmas Hill Park has been more than just a park to us, the levee more than just a running trail.
For the past 16 years, from September to June, Christmas Hill Park has been the most often chosen site for South Valley Homeschoolers Association’s Friday afternoon Park Day. Neighboring Uvas Creek has been a science lab, the source of tadpoles and the site for water flow studies. The levee has been, at times, our track and field site.
Most of all, Christmas Hill Park was a site for adventures. Adventure is a relative term. Our toddlers found enough adventure in the perilous climb up those marvelous slides that once graced the playground, or playing under and on the huge platform that once surrounded the walnut tree.
Our older children would climb trees, or play soccer or softball or Capture the Flag, or go on hikes. “Stay together!” we would warn them sternly, and, after our first unsavory incident, “Watch out for creeps!”
I wish creeps would stay out of parks, and far away from women and children, but they don’t. Our first incident occurred on Friday, Oct. 13, 1995. As I later wrote to the district attorney, “Two of my children, along with several others, were accosted by an exhibitionist.
“The children reported to us, their mothers. We called the police and raised a hue and cry, chasing the suspect up Christmas Hill, down the amphitheatre terrace, and across the creek to the levee. The police sent three cars and nabbed the fleeing suspect.
“My son, Nick, age 11, told us that he had seen the suspect, Mr. Ramon Maciel, first in the bamboo at one side of the creek, then at the bathrooms, and finally exposing himself flagrantly up on the hill. It appears that Mr. Maciel was stalking the children.”
Thus Anne, at age 5, received her first subpoena: to testify. The judge took the case seriously and Mr. Maciel was sentenced to a year in county jail.
Neither this unpleasant incident, nor the next, nor the last, prevented us from returning to the park. All incidents resulted in arrests and incarceration. In between incidents, we had 16 good years of enjoying the park.
Now our older children have gone off to four-year universities. Our youngest children have become “too old” and far too busy for Park Day. It hits every homeschooled child, usually at age 14. Anne was a year late becoming “too old;” Danielle two years early.
But Sandi and I are not quite ready to give up on Christmas Hill Park, the levee, or Park Day. We have a plan to patrol the levee – in our copious spare time – with whistles and cell phone, keeping an eye out for this latest rapist. The park belongs to the people, not to the perverts. We plan to keep it so.
