Posted on 02/04/2009 11:32:10 AM PST by GSWarrior
CARBONDALE, Colorado She traveled the world alone and had never been assaulted by anyone until Thursday in Carbondale.
She lived there for about 2 1/2 years because she loved the town and thought it was safe. Now, she feels uncomfortable even walking to work to teach at one of Carbondales schools.
Its chiefly the emotional component to all of this, she said. I can handle the physical injury. I can handle getting new credit cards and a drivers license, but the fact that I dont feel comfortable walking to school. I feel like such an idiot. I reveled living in this town for years.
This 26-year-old woman and a 24-year-old female friend were attacked Thursday around 8 p.m. by three teenage girls. They were walking toward downtown by Second Street and Maroon Drive.
The woman asked that her real name not be used for the story and will be referred to as Jane.
She and her friend heard the sound of running footsteps behind them. They turned around and saw three high-school aged girls. Their faces werent covered.
No one said anything. Jane and her friend kind of brushed it off and continued walking. They even laughed at themselves for feeling a little uncomfortable because they were in Carbondale, after all. Carbondale seems like a safer place than Chicago, where Jane is from, or places around the world shes visited by herself, including developing countries, she said.
We kind of joked to each other that it feels like were being followed by a gang, she said. But we kind of laughed because oh were in Carbondale.
Less than a minute later, Jane heard running footsteps again, started to turn around and got punched in the side of the head. She remembers seeing the girls wearing bandannas pulled up to just under their eyes. She doesnt remember hearing anyone say anything. At one point two girls were on top of her.
At that point things get a little jumbled in my head because I was hit so many times, she said.
Jane said she suffered a serious black eye, pain and bruising with a total of around five or six different marks on her face. She said her friend suffered similar physical injuries. In the past, Jane had suffered a head injury that caused her to go into a coma, she said, and each blow could have been tremendously damaging. But the worst injuries from Thursdays assault were emotional.
As the assault ended after probably less than a minute, Jane and her friend saw the girls heading to a car that had a number of guys in it. They got the license plate and vehicle description and called the police.
Carbondale Police Chief Gene Schilling said officers located the suspected vehicle soon after in the City Market parking lot. Three of four teenagers in the car received citations, and a total of seven teenagers had received citations within one or a few days as officers completed interviews and investigation. The suspect teenagers ranged from 13-17 and lived in Carbondale and Glenwood Springs. They were all cited with aggravated assault. The three girls also received robbery charges.
Jane said Carbondale police response was amazing.
She believes the girls maybe were trying to prove something to their friends. She didnt know the girls or why they were targeted. Its awkward, Jane said, when friends and people who see her bruises, hear the story and inevitably ask and she has to answer that, yes, the attackers were Hispanic. Jane and her friend are white.
I dont know how race plays into this, Jane said. I hate to think that. I think its possible.
Schilling said he does not believe the attack was racially motivated, and the crime seemed like one of opportunity for financial gain.
Jane said the attackers didnt demand money, and they only took one of the two purses. She said its ironic that the attackers probably didnt know she is working for a masters degree in bilingual education. She also just booked her tickets to Mexico to practice Spanish and start a special education program for abused children.
You probably didnt think about how this action could result in a teacher contemplating leaving her beloved students and school, because she is so disgusted by what could occur just blocks from her own home, Jane said to her attackers in a guest commentary.
One of the toughest parts of the assault is trying to explain to young students why people would want to hurt their teacher.
She said she probably will stay in Carbondale because shes stubborn, shes already starting to feel better and has an amazing network of friends. Theyve equipped her with pepper spray and suggested self-defense classes. Shes still nursing her eye and some swelling and soreness in her head.
I’ve been being irritated by that lately myself. White males.
It's ironic that she's going to be in a position to influence young people...and thinks that the perps cared about her career, one way or another.
Hope you don't mind the slight modification!
What's ironic about it?
Hispanic gangs don't care about education.
Neither do any other gangs.
“But I’m PC ! Why would they hurt me ?”
Gang beatings also serve as valuable peer-bonding exercises!
Two liberal idiots. Hopefully they learned something from this.
Ah. A naive leftist was the victim.
>Ladies, you need concealed carry in your state.
I was thinking the same thing.
At that close range it’d be hard to miss, assuming you had enough wherewithal and surprise to act... but then again, a knife is MUCH easier to use under those circumstances as the dump of adrenaline will disrupt your fine motor-control.
bttt
Gang initiation.
Liberals think that guns are dangerous.
Maybe , after this beating, she might become a conservative.
Or she may need several more beatings, first.
Lots of liberals in Carbondale.
Ping!
Know any more facts in this case, AuntB?
What’s the old saying?
A conservative is a liberal who has been mugged...
You're dreaming. Liberals are incapable of learning anything. Your only hope is that they bought the Liberal schtick despite their better instincts.
And they always run away!
Talk about false advertising.
That’s the article summarized.
There is a reason Mexico is a cesspool. As Vicente Fox proudly proclaimed “Mexico does not stop at the US border.”
We need to wake up and deport 100% of the criminal aliens, now.
Yes, gang initiation.
And yes, also racist. They picked easy targets. White people walking down the street generally don’t think about kicking the holy sh1t out of someone, or think THEY are going to get pounded on.
Gang initiation, culture clash, dark side of diversity...
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