Trolls on the bridge.

Late at night as I was crossing on the north side of the Lake street bridge, two young punks, one with a gun, tried to pull me off of my bicycle.

I was aware of something amiss before they approached and managed to quickly turn around and head the other way to call the police.

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Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on April 1, 2013 at 11:54pm

This is the spot from where they emerged from, and also the same spot they escaped to, down into the river level after I alerted the authorities.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on April 2, 2013 at 12:24am

Juan, glad you were observant enough to avoid a problem and thanks for the heads up!

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 2, 2013 at 1:13am

Yikes!  What a scary situation.  I'd be more than a little freaked if I were in your situation.  Like Lisa said, it is so good that you were able to identify the danger signs and make a decision in advance with enough time to avoid them and get away. There is a lesson right there for me, at least.  Be aware, pay attention to the surroundings being ridden through.

With the ease and nearly zero risk of stealing an unattended/parked bike, the apparent surge in these types of bikejacking crimes is alarming.  One has to wonder that these types of attacks are much more than just about stealing the bike and more of a traditional mugging + bonus bike against a victim who may be more "out of their element" and in a different neighborhood and perhaps an easier mark than a person on foot.  Perhaps the attackers might think that a person on a bike might have more cash on them and more credit cards and be a juicier target, or just more vulnerable as they might be less maneuverable at slow speeds -especially at a pinch-point like a bridge.  Perhaps the criminal element perceives a rider of a bicycle to be more affluent for some reason.

I am just brain-storming here because this trend seems to be a nightmare scenario for us and for the recruitment of new and more riders as this type of thing starts hitting the news more often.   More research into these types of crimes and understanding why they are (or at least seem to be, due to reports here and on other local forums) on the rise 

While these types of attacks seem to be on the rise I have heard nothing from the city on what they are doing to combat them or even study them.

Permalink Reply by dan brown on April 2, 2013 at 3:21am

dude that is pretty disturbing. so glad you are OK. thanks for the reminder to always be vigilent. take care man.

 

DB

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 2, 2013 at 3:30am

Speaking of trolls under bridges...

h' 1.0 said:

"Apparent surge" in bikejackings? Do you have any evidence of that?  Ain't seeing it.


James BlackHeron said:

Yikes!  What a scary situation.  I'd be more than a little freaked if I were in your situation.  Like Lisa said, it is so good that you were able to identify the danger signs and make a decision in advance with enough time to avoid them and get away. There is a lesson right there for me, at least.  Be aware, pay attention to the surroundings being ridden through.

With the ease and nearly zero risk of stealing an unattended/parked bike, the apparent surge in these types of bikejacking crimes is alarming.  One has to wonder that these types of attacks are much more than just about stealing the bike and more of a traditional mugging + bonus bike against a victim who may be more "out of their element" and in a different neighborhood and perhaps an easier mark than a person on foot.  Perhaps the attackers might think that a person on a bike might have more cash on them and more credit cards and be a juicier target, or just more vulnerable as they might be less maneuverable at slow speeds -especially at a pinch-point like a bridge.  Perhaps the criminal element perceives a rider of a bicycle to be more affluent for some reason.

I am just brain-storming here because this trend seems to be a nightmare scenario for us and for the recruitment of new and more riders as this type of thing starts hitting the news more often.   More research into these types of crimes and understanding why they are (or at least seem to be, due to reports here and on other local forums) on the rise 

While these types of attacks seem to be on the rise I have heard nothing from the city on what they are doing to combat them or even study them.

Permalink Reply by prof.gfr on April 2, 2013 at 3:56am

There is certainly an increase in media reporting of flash-mob style incidents like the weekend attack of a woman on the CTA by a group of teenage girls and a mob of teenagers who were knocking over pedestrians along Michigan Avenue that same night. The spate of attempted bike-jackings reported on the chainlink are not dissimilar.  

Whether the statistics back up an increase in these crimes over previous years would require some analysis of crime reports. What is verifiable is that many of these crimes are abetted by social media technology (twitter, most infamously, but also plain old cellphones) to draw clusters of perpetrators to specific areas at specific moments when they have the best chance of causing trouble then eluding arrest.  What is also verifiable is that these crimes appear to target pedestrians, pub transit riders, and cyclists rather than drivers or people in private property. I can only surmise a range of possible reasons: a) the generally lax punishment for harassing people not in cars and/or stealing purses/bikes and other "small property" vs. the harsh punishments for "grand theft auto" and b) the relative ease of targeting people in crowded and/or large public spaces that allow the perpetrators to diffuse and escape more easily.

Like James, I am concerned both for the welfare of the victims of these crimes as well as for the public's sense of public safety with the increase either in actual crimes or their reporting in the media.  Compared to NYC we have far fewer cops on the streets and I almost always feel safer in NYC than in Chicago. We need more foot patrols to deter these kinds of activities.  

Permalink Reply by rb on April 2, 2013 at 4:07am

i literally rode right by there last night, maybe 20 yds from that access point.

Scary- be safe everyone.

Glad you are ok.

Permalink Reply by spencewine on April 2, 2013 at 4:09am

This is concerning. I'm running across this bridge 2-3 times a week at night.  How late is late? When you say something was a miss, what was it? And glad to hear you're okay, especially when there was a gun was involved.

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on April 2, 2013 at 4:14am

Amiss by the way they were moving into position, ready to pounce, not typical of people just walking. When I got about 12 feet close enough is when one started to nervously cock his gun and the other telling me to stop and get off my bicycle.

 

After 11:00pm is when that occured.
spencewine said:

This is concerning. I'm running across this bridge 2-3 times a week at night.  How late is late? When you say something was a miss, what was it?

Permalink Reply by grayn8 on April 2, 2013 at 4:15am
Dang. Scary. Glad to hear you are good. I don't know about hard statistics or public/media relations. But it's been a long winter and the start of spring and the ensuing end of cabin fevers can lead to erratic behavior. The guys under the bridges trying to keep warm are gone, so those nooks and crannies have vacancies. Be safe.
Permalink Reply by annlaura on April 2, 2013 at 4:51am

Scary. Really glad you're ok.

Permalink Reply by El Dorado on April 2, 2013 at 5:13am

No one has asked the obvious question. Did you report it to the police & what did they look like?  These "urban youths" have been reported on the news.Yes, the police would take a great interest in the report as the attacker had a gun & this was traditional "urban mugging" & not a parked bike theft.

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