The words of a brave young man

The tale, largely in his words, was riveting.

It recounted the April 15 stabbing of a 16-year-old on the

Westside. A Westside he had just moved away from. A Westside he

thought he knew and understood.

John, whose name the Pilot changed to protect his identity, does

not seem to need the protection. He is not cowering away after the

attack, in which he was stabbed several times in the head, neck and

hand and chased.

Talking to the Pilot in a May 10 story, “A new Westside for

stabbing victim,” was just a first step. He also is working with a

mentor and a Costa Mesa church to organize a “gang summit” to provide

a forum for the issue of violence. He will speak about his attack and

attack back against gang violence.

That’s what heroes do.

They also rise back up from an attack that, in part, went this

way:

“I could feel his teeth get in and out of my body. It hurt.

“We just started running. My shoes were coming off. But I just

took them off. I ran without my shoes.”

Some will use John’s story, almost certainly, as evidence of the

danger of the Westside. And it is true that there are parts of Costa

Mesa that could be safer. But recent crime statistics show that the

city is headed in the right direction. Last year, the number of

violent crimes plummeted 30.8% in Costa Mesa, according to

preliminary crime statistics released by California Atty. General

Bill Lockyer last month. The two crimes that experienced the biggest

drop were robbery, which decreased 36.8%, and aggravated assault,

which dropped 23.2%.

Police are active on the street. The city’s gang unit continues to

target problem areas. But no matter what officials do, incidents like

what happened to John -- or a shooting of two men two weeks ago --

will occur. It is impossible to prevent every crime, unfortunately.

John’s brave actions, though, will help in the fight.