Stopping assaults starts with knowledge

LOLITA HARPER

Thursday was a perfect day for a walk. The sun was shining bright in

the crystal blue sky.

I was headed to the Westside, where the breeze from the ocean

blows delicately across the landscape, providing the ideal contrast

to the blazing sun. The normally inviting trail along Victoria

Street, with a winding sidewalk leading to the Santa Ana River, took

on a sinister sense as I was reminded of the recent sexual attacks

along the street.

If you haven’t heard about the two sexual attacks last Friday, in

which police say a group of men are responsible for grabbing women,

pushing them to the ground, trying to tear off their clothes and

touching them inappropriately, you are not alone.

Last week’s attacks, both along Victoria Street, were the most

recent in a string since January but not one person I ran into had

heard about it. Police say there have been five reported, all on the

Westside. And three in daylight.

The pedestrians along the busy stretch of street were few and far

between, as I strolled along, between Harbor Boulevard and Placentia

Avenue. Cars zoomed by constantly and although their presence was

thunderous, it was easy to feel isolated.

A young mother named Susana -- who didn’t want to give her last

name -- pushed a stroller along Victoria Street at about 2:45 p.m.,

heading west from the market to her apartment.

Susana, who spoke only Spanish, had not heard of the attacks and

was surprised to hear that one of the victims was pushing a stroller,

in broad daylight at about the same time of day.

Susana has no car and walks Victoria Street daily. She thanked me

for the news and clutched her stroller a little tighter.

Maria Munoz, who was walking with her 4-year-old son Brian, a

friend and her son, was also unaware of the attacks. I recounted the

most recent accounts but she seemed undaunted.

“Everything is safe around here,” she said in Spanish.

No, it’s not. Women are getting assaulted.

“Just be careful,” I said.

“Thank you and you too,” she responded.

Marcos Rodriguez, who stood outside his apartment complex on the

600 block getting his mail, said he wasn’t aware of any of the recent

attacks on his street.

“Not this street,” he said in Spanish. “You’re talking about the

one on Hamilton Avenue, where they got a young girl behind the

[Department of Motor Vehicles]. But that was like six months ago. I

haven’t heard of anything since.”

Although he lived on the street of the attacks, with his wife and

children, he said was not overly concerned.

“You always have to keep a careful eye out,” he said.

Sad, but true.

Costa Mesa Police are asking that residents keep an eye out and

report anything unusual. Hopefully, the handful of people I talked to

Thursday were the few folks that had missed the warnings of the new,

community-friendly police department.

Like Lt. John FitzPatrick said, “the people in the community are

[the department’s] eyes and ears.”

Strangely, it was a reporter in jeans and tank top out on Thursday

spreading the news and not a uniformed officer. In fact, there was no

sight of those flashy new black and whites anywhere.

But we must trust that Costa Mesa Police have made good on their

promise to increase patrols and public awareness. We must have

confidence that those who live in that Westside neighborhood have

been given the information and the tools to help officers catch these

suspects.

If not, it will be another sad case of see no evil, hear no evil.

* LOLITA HARPER is the Forum editor. She also writes columns

Wednesdays and Fridays. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or by

e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.