Vocal Point : Caution persists years after

Alvena E. Eales of Seattle, looking for some sunny days, found them in Spokane. She also found a shocking experience.

On May 16, Eales, 81, was mugged while strolling with a friend in Riverfront Park. She felt “a yank,” she said and, before she knew it, a man grabbed her purse and shoved her down on the ground.

In broad daylight, on a lovely, warm morning. An 81 year-old woman!

Eales landed in the hospital for the first time in her life, with a broken nose, and bruises and scrapes, according to a May 18 article in The Spokesman-

Review.

When I saw the photo of her face, I wanted to cry. Eales had a swollen nose with stitches, two black eyes, stitches on her forehead, what may have been stitches on a split lower lip and painful-looking bruises from forehead to the base of her neck. She looked like she’d been badly beaten up.

The article stated: “Spokane police Sgt. Joe Peterson said a violent crime against an elderly woman often scars deeper than the skin. ‘The woman may recover physically, but she won’t recover emotionally. The real crime is that person has stolen this woman’s security for the remaining years of her life. That’s the real shame.’”

This is also true of younger female crime victims.

Women are increasingly targets for muggers; physically weaker, carrying easily seen purses, often distracted or absorbed in our business, we can make easy prey. This kind of crime against women has been increasing over the years, in store parking lots and elsewhere.

Often in broad daylight.

I stress this point because, while I would avoid parks or walking alone at night, I wouldn’t hesitate to enjoy a morning stroll with a friend in Riverfront Park. I now feel uneasy about it. Add it to my list of “think nots.”

Because I, too, was a crime victim.

While in my 20s, I was accosted twice.

The first time was in the early afternoon, when I returned to my apartment, located in a nice area. While crossing the parking alley, a car came up to me and screeched to a halt, nearly hitting me.

As I walked away, a frighteningly intense and angry man told me to get in his car. In a weird state of unreal incredulity, almost embarrassment that this was happening,

I shortly refused and merely hurried away; as I hit the stairwell, he began getting out of his car; I ran upstairs, hand shaking as I struggled to fit my key in the lock.

Once safely inside, I called the police. They never caught the man but discovered he’d been seen at two nearby complexes carrying a pipe wrench and exposing himself.

The man was black. There were no black men I’d seen before in our complex or that neighborhood. But after that, a couple times when I arrived home, I saw a black man standing near or sitting on the stairs.

Terrified, I had to drive away until he was gone. This made me feel like a despicable racist and also fear I was possibly being stalked. I finally found some peace when I moved.

The second time, at my new place, a threatening flasher approached me as I was returning from the laundry room down the hall just before sunset. I dreaded going to any laundry room after that.

These sick creeps murdered my confidence in going about alone, even though I wasn’t physically harmed.

Resulting feelings of vulnerability haunt me to this day and determine what I do and when. What seems a reasonable activity to most people, holds threat to me.

I’m always cautious; I don’t take walks alone, I park close to stores and don’t shop at night.

With more addicts desperate for cash, attacks such as the one against Eales will only increase. We’re all going to need to be aware and careful.

I hope Eales’ physical injuries heal completely. Most of all, I pray for her spirit.

Because, no matter what their age, any victimized woman inhabits a legacy of fear.