Via Andy Molholt Something really fed up happened tonight, that you all need to know about & I think needs to be written about. It was the end of 2nd Street Festival, and I was helping Vincent & Sarah, vendors at the festival, pack their belongings into my van after a long day. As we were leaving, between Brown & Fairmount on 2nd Street, we witnessed a man, early 20s, assault a young woman, punching her in the face. She immediately fell to the ground and began screaming at the top of her lungs. She was screaming HELP! at least five times. Her face was bloody. She was crying. Moments earlier, a throng of bike cops were patrolling the area, but they had all just biked away. Nicky Devine, the executive director of 2nd Street Festival, watched the cops bike away & shrug with indifference. It was only a block away. They heard the woman screaming, but they just kept biking. Meanwhile, the perpetrator began casually strolling away. Infuriated & confused, I called 911. He started to jog, so I left Vincent & Sarah with the victim & I began to pursue him on foot. This is where the story takes a really dark turn: I followed him for fifteen minutes. During this time, I called 911 three times. Each time with increasing intensity, and each time laboriously explaining the situation, telling them my exact location and insisting that an officer PLEASE come as soon as possible. I was met with indifference, and a vague assurance of Yeah, okay...someone is on their way. No one ever came. The third time I called, the dispatch officer told me that there was nothing that they could do. He insisted that I turn around. Simultaneously, back at 2nd & Brown, 2nd Street Festival staff were trying to contact the police through their provided private contact lines. No one answered. Two of the staff members of 2nd Street Festival had to search for four blocks to find any police. The officers were being paid to be posted on every block until at least midnight, yet no officers were to be found. Finally, 4 police cars swarmed the area. As Nicky explained the situation, the head officer looked at her, and said simply: Well, she only got punched, and she doesnt want to press charges. This was before the officer spoke directly to the victim. At this point, Vincent, who was speaking face to face with one of the officers, told me that the cops wanted me to turn around, instead of continuing to follow the man who punched his girlfriend. The perpetrator, who could overhear my conversation, turned around & began taunting me: Its PHILADELPHIA, man. No one cares. No one is coming. You are wasting your time. This is the point where I ran up behind him & shot this video. This is the guy. This is what he looks like. He told me he was on the way home, and the last time I saw him was at 9th & Spring Garden. I began walking back towards my van, which was still parked at 2nd & Brown, and looking desperately for cop cars. I saw one! At 6th & Spring Garden. I yelled YO!!!!!! at the top of my lungs & waved my hands frantically. The officer turned back from the drivers seat, but kept driving the other way & turned on his lights. I kid you not: I would find out in about five minutes that this very officer was headed to the scene of the crime. Dejected & exhausted, I grabbed a taxi. When I got to about 3rd & Spring Garden, I received a frantic call from Vincent: Where are you??? GET OUT OF THE CAB. He was with the officer who had just looked back at me & driven on, and this was finally when they sped back with their lights on & picked me up - but it was too late. This officer was astounded at the indifference that we had witnessed from other officers on the force. (elaborate) We of course drove around for about 15 minutes & couldnt find the guy. He was long gone. I should have never stopped following him, and I should have never listened to the police at 911 (I think it was the 6th district based on my location?) who told me there was nothing I could do. Posting about this now here on social media & tagging ever news agency / local reporter that I know is the best thing that I can do at this point, I think. I am really conflicted about what happened tonight. It shows a real lack of effectiveness of the very people that are meant to save us from these kinds of situations. The jadedness that we were met with from the cops both on the phone & in person suggests that maybe domestic violence is accepted in our culture. This has nothing to do, really, with 2nd Street Festival. This has to do with ineptitude of the police. It seems they dont take it very seriously, at all. This happened, tonight, August 3rd, 2014. Where were the police? Emily Guendelsberger, Michael Alan Goldberg, Ryan Briggs, Conrad Benner, Leah R. Kauffman, Holly Otterbein, Andrew Thompson, Chris Reber, Yowei Shaw, Neal Santos, Jonathan Valania, John Vettese, Jeff Deeney, Kyle Andrews KYW Newsradio, Philadelphia Weekly, Philadelphia City Paper, Metro Philly, Jezebel: PLEASE, SOMEBODY WRITE ABOUT THIS.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 23:12:25 +0000
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