Seven or eight kids(?) ran down the banks of the greenway tonight from both sides. Incident occured just east of 28th Ave around 5:15pm. They were really loud and jumping around the center of the greenway. I took the (conviently placed) 28th ave exit ramp about a block before the kids, and tried to yell to the guy behind me.

He didn't hear and continued. From the overpass bridge, I saw him first chased by the kids, then knocked off his bike. I was so freaked out, I got the hell out of there while calling the cops.

Did anyone bike by after this? Do you know if the guy is alright? He was on a gray bike that looked 80's-ish, with a rack on the back.

Was this 18th Ave maybe - 28th Ave is still street level - no overpass bridges.

Did the cops respond?

Dammit. I would have hoped that with recent events down there, things would be safer, at least temporarily.

Yea - it was 18th ave exit. I go by there all the time, I don't know why I thought it was 28th... I even looked at the street sign! (Gah... I think I told the cops 28th, )

She (911 responder) said they were sending a squad down, but I didn't see it before I left.

I think we need to institute the buddy system thing already advocated on this. There should be a Greenway Safety Committee meeting soon, and if this is brought up, it might help. The trail watch people were out in force tonight (8 riders) and if we can keep this up it might help too. All interested are welcome.

Calendar - Coalition Meetings this Quarter

Board of Directors
Thursday, October 22nd and Wednesday, December 2nd
6-8 p.m.

Land Use Committee
2nd Mondays
October 12th, November 9th, December 14th
6-8 p.m.

Safety Committee
3rd Mondays
October 19th, November 16th, December 21st
6-8 p.m.

Cepro Community Meetings
Saturday, November 7th, 2-4 p.m.
Saturday, November 14th, 2-4pm

All meetings, unless indicated otherwise, are at the
Coalition office (2834 10th Avenue South, Greenway Level,
Suite 2, Minneapolis, MN 55407).

Yeah, the committee meeting is tonight, and all are welcome. We don't have a particularly full agenda, and if people would like to talk about how to create a buddy system, I would be more than happy to add it to the agenda. There are a lot of concerns with buddy stations, but I would love to try to work them out. The meeting is at 6:00, in the Midtown Greenway Coalition offices, down the hall from the Midtown Freewheel Bike Center.


Gabriel

Dang! I just happened to take the day off work yesterday - otherwise I would have been right there at that time. I ride that area at that time multiple times per week, but especially on the weekends. Have to admit, I'm feeling scared and vulnerable.

If this happens to anyone else, please for the love of fuck stick around and wait for the cops. Get to safety. Wait. You may be able to help out.

TALK TO THE MOTHERFUCKING COPS ABOUT IT IN PERSON.

I'm in the process of posting this on the incident section of the Coalition website. If anyone has any more details please let me know so the post can be as clear and concise as possible.

Please please do come to the safety committee meeting tonight. To adequately address the safety concerns and desires of the community we need to have direct input from the community. Plus I know many of you are out on the trail far more often than I am and have a better idea of the best way to go about making the space safer.

Thanks for reporting, thanks for calling the cops, but you realize left the scene of an alleged crime. You're a witness and you failed to perform your civic duty. If the cops had gotten there and found nothing they might not respond with urgency the next time.

No one is required to hang around and observe a crime in progress. You get yourself out of there if you see danger, and call the cops, and that's it, you're not expected to get involved, or hide behind a tree and take notes.

If you feel like you can do more, that's a personal decision and easy to make when you're not there alone in the dark seeing a bunch of creeps come out of hiding and not knowing how many there are or if they're coming after you too.

Bullshit. If you see someone being knocked off their bike and you are up ontop of the train ditch and you leave, you could have done more. Thats my opinion, I wasn't there but from what the poster said and did, I say they could have done more.

Now that I have had a chance to calm down and think of someone else besides myself, I would just like to say that I hope the person who was assaulted is safe and with loved ones. There but for the grace of God go me (or you).

At least follow up with the police when they get there. Or maybe the next day.

Seriously, if you witness a crime and call the cops at least be there to provide an account of what happened.