Fight in front of 437 Delaware Ave

Following is an excerpt from email I sent to Chief Tuffey and Officer Montesano.

Unfortunately, I’m writing this email to report on my interaction with the police this afternoon. Let me set the stage:

At 3:40pm on Thursday the 29^th, I left my house to walk my dogs and happened to bring my camera with me. Just as I got to the sidewalk I witnessed a group of kids attack two other kids. My first reaction was to try and stop the fight, but with my dogs and the quick escalation, I had to settle for taking a couple of pictures. One of the victims was hit in the face (closed fist). He went down to the ground immediately and 4-5 other youths starting hitting and kicking him. After intervention by some passerby’s and my neighbor, the victim was able to walk away with a bruised face and what appeared to me to be the beginning of a black eye.

The same thug that threw the knock-down punch threatened my neighbor for breaking up the fight and said he would ‘take him out.’

I called 911 and kept an eye on the victims who were too scared to continue walking down the street. They took refuge in CVS and the hardware store.

I relayed my story to the responding officers, and showed the pictured I had taken. The first officer said he recognized the kid who threw the punch. The officers then went and spoke with the victims. When the officers returned to their cars, I asked what was going to be done. They said nothing was going to be done because the victim wants to handle it through school. I asked what else we (the residents who witnessed the fight) could do and the officer became very defensive and accused me of taking an ungracious tone with him. I assured him it was not my intent to question him, but was eager to know what I can do to make sure some consequence come down on the main perpetrator.

Here’s the problem: Aside from the kid who was attacked, there were other victims.

1. The street was busy with people walking home from their bus stop after work.
2. The fight jeopardized the safety of a good number of people.
3. The incident will have a lasting affect on residents who will no longer feel safe walking the street.
4. Residents of the street were threatened.
5. I did my duty as a citizen. Called in the fight and got an unreasonable attitude from the responding officers.

Here’s what should have happened:

1. Even if it is the case that the officer could not do anything, it would have been in the best interest of the police department to follow up with me (i.e. keep the residents informed). Instead of me having to ask the officer for more information. Just as you mentioned, it’s important for officers to get to know the residents. Had the officer treated me like a fellow human being instead of just “one of those Delaware Ave residents” he would understand that there are sincere residents of the neighborhood who want to work with the police and help turn our neighborhood around.
2. The officer should have said that he’d drive down Delaware and look for the perpetrator.
3. The officers should have thanked those residents who stayed afterwards and should have told us to keep up the good work.

Please understand that most of my interactions with the police do not happen this way. Most of the officers I speak to are courteous and quick to offer more information on what residents can and should do in future situations.

I can’t remember the name of the main officer that I spoke with, but the second officer on the scene was C. Young.

I hope that you can follow up on this. I fear for the safety of the victims and the residents of Delaware Ave.

I have attached the pictures of the fight.

Picture1:

Victim – red hoody and blue jeans.

Perpetrator1 – kid in the black hoody being held by a kid in the stripped shirt.

Perpetrator2 – kid with black jacket and white t-shirt seen putting his jacket back on.

Note the large group of residents waiting at the bus stop

Picture2:

Perpetrator1 – standing behind the man in the white shirt

Picture3:

Perpetrator1 – threatening my neighbor.