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eve_primeThis evening was calm and quiet. Every so often, we'd go outside to enjoy the distant flashes of lightning, reflecting off clouds far to the east. Last night, though, was a different story, at least for many of our neighbors.
At some point in the afternoon, a guy in his 30s or 40s assaulted a 65-year-old woman in the Marcola area, up in the woods about 15-20 miles northeast of us. Emergency vehicles came to help get her to the hospital; I guess she's going to be okay. Turns out the guy was still hanging around, and when someone tried to talk to him, he took off on a motorcycle. The police took off after him. He took the freeway to the interstate, then headed south, then took the exit nearest to us and rode the four miles or so down out of the hills and into town, then headed south along the street I drive on when I go to work or the university. By this point, there were eight police cars chasing him, per my friend B. The chase continued around the side streets and probably through the one street that has a barrier that would block cars and not motorcycles, because they lost track of him, and then he left the motorcycle and set off through the wooded neighborhood on foot, looking for a place to hide.
Meanwhile, the rumors had started -- a murderer! Armed and dangerous! The police were giving all of this credence, and they shut down the neighborhood, just east of the middle school. People trying to come home from work were barred from accessing their houses. I heard that the Safeway, several blocks from there but only half a block from my house, was locked down for hours -- I sure am glad I wasn't there. Police cars drove frantically and dangerously through the neighborhood streets. The officers went door to door; they brought in the K9 unit (aka trained dogs). They searched and searched. Then, around midnight... they gave up. And that was that. They announced it was time to return to normal, and they left, with this guy still on the loose.
I suppose what had happened was that they cleared away the rumors and realized that they'd greatly overreacted to the original crime. It would have been nice of them to say so publicly, though, since we in the neighborhood were not happy to be left with a supposedly armed and dangerous person at large.
Here's the story in the news.
At some point in the afternoon, a guy in his 30s or 40s assaulted a 65-year-old woman in the Marcola area, up in the woods about 15-20 miles northeast of us. Emergency vehicles came to help get her to the hospital; I guess she's going to be okay. Turns out the guy was still hanging around, and when someone tried to talk to him, he took off on a motorcycle. The police took off after him. He took the freeway to the interstate, then headed south, then took the exit nearest to us and rode the four miles or so down out of the hills and into town, then headed south along the street I drive on when I go to work or the university. By this point, there were eight police cars chasing him, per my friend B. The chase continued around the side streets and probably through the one street that has a barrier that would block cars and not motorcycles, because they lost track of him, and then he left the motorcycle and set off through the wooded neighborhood on foot, looking for a place to hide.
Meanwhile, the rumors had started -- a murderer! Armed and dangerous! The police were giving all of this credence, and they shut down the neighborhood, just east of the middle school. People trying to come home from work were barred from accessing their houses. I heard that the Safeway, several blocks from there but only half a block from my house, was locked down for hours -- I sure am glad I wasn't there. Police cars drove frantically and dangerously through the neighborhood streets. The officers went door to door; they brought in the K9 unit (aka trained dogs). They searched and searched. Then, around midnight... they gave up. And that was that. They announced it was time to return to normal, and they left, with this guy still on the loose.
I suppose what had happened was that they cleared away the rumors and realized that they'd greatly overreacted to the original crime. It would have been nice of them to say so publicly, though, since we in the neighborhood were not happy to be left with a supposedly armed and dangerous person at large.
Here's the story in the news.