March 6, 2009. Western Head, N.S. Victim.

He chose the wrong person to mug. My friend was in New York, visiting her son, who lives in a very nice neighborhood in Manhatten. It was dark and she fumbled with the key. When she opened the door of the condo, and then opened the interior door, a man pushed into the building and grabbed her. She pulled away and ran up the five stairs to the landing where he grabbed her again. By now she turned to push him away but he was chocking her. She scratched his neck, trying to get him to let her go. She was screaming at the top of her lungs. She told us that it seemed to go on for a long time, but was probably a short time. A couple heard her screams and came down the stairs when the man took off running. This was about nine o'clock. It was midnight when she and her son arrived home from the police station.

Several good things happened. My friend was strong and fit and feisty so she fought back. The couple in the building came out to help. Her son came immediately down when he heard the loud noise and stayed with her through out all the interviews at the police station. A taxi driver saw the man run out of the building and followed the man to the subway where the driver called the police who caught the man at the next stop. Also, two bicycle couriers saw the man run and called a description into the police. The police came to see my friend within four minutes after the 911 call. After getting the details of the mugging, they asked whether she wanted to press charges and she said yes, definitely yes. It seems that many folks who are mugged will not press charges, because the process is lengthy and tiresome. If the man does not go to jail for a long time the victim is fearful of retribution, so most people, according to the police, will not press charges against the attacker. Not my friend. Because my friend faced her attacker, she had a very good description of his clothing which matched both the taxi driver and the couriers. By the end of the evening, the man was charged with five counts and the police feel the charges will stick. He had deep scratches on his neck and my friend's fingernails were scraped to check the DNA. The police have been watching that man, but up until now, no one would press charges. But not my friend. He chose the wrong person to mug.

She still has to return to New York for the trial, although the man has pleaded guilty. The man told the police that my friend spoke in a very rude way to him on the street and that was why he attacked her. My friend, right from the beginning, always stated that she did not hear his voice at all. He never spoke to her. It was a very unpleasant episode indeed, but it certainly could have been worse.