Generally, I prefer to discuss items that are safely consigned to history when I post here, but recent events in my little corner of the Hill have forced me to confront “real” life.
The last month or so has brought an upsurge in rock throwing incidents by students from Eliot-Hine Jr. High. The pattern is clear, and repetitive. The students walk down 17th Street NE/SE, pick up rocks from a landscape bed on the corner of 17th and A Street, and continue down A Street, SE, towards the Stadium-Armory Metro Station.
This first came to my attention as I was getting my daughters out of our car one afternoon, about a month ago, on the 1800 block of A Street. I heard a thump and saw a rock lying next to me. Surprised, I turned around and saw a bunch of kids laughing at me. Somewhat befuddled, I still didn’t piece it together until a few of the boys threw a few more rocks at me; this time as I had my 21 month old in my arms.
It took a few minutes to register. These kids, without provocation, were standing there throwing rocks at me as I held a small child. The elements were all there, but my brain refused to put it together.I hardly think of my neighborhood as perfectly safe, and we’ve had our share of muggings, assaults, drug crimes, and even a murder or two. But all of those made sense, in a sad and totally unacceptable sort of way. This casual, and even gleeful, violence did not, and still does not.
Of course I reported it, as well as subsequent incidents we saw through the weeks that followed. Unfortunately, despite MPD’s very aggressive patrolling and speedy follow up, the pattern continues. Almost daily, at 4:45 pm, they come through, chucking rocks at people, houses and cars.
Tuesday, as the mob approached, I decided to film it. I had quite enough of telling the patrol officer that the suspects were “12-15 year old African-American males (and one or two females) wearing khaki pants and a black jacket.” I wanted a better description.
I stepped outside with only camera I had available: my iPhone. I started taping a group of eight students or so come down the street, having wrapped up a shoving match further down. As I was filming, a rock hit me in the head. Foolishly, I had thought I was perfectly safe, as previous incidents had showed that their aim was commensurate with their maturity. Fortunately, except for a slight headache and a bloody nose, I was unharmed. The video is here, and if you listen closely you can hear the sound of the rock hitting my head and then the ground.
Then the real fun started. I went down, exchanged a few words with them, and ended up chasing them to the Metro, a few doors down. I saw a Metro employee standing at the top of the escalator, and felt a sense of relief. Excellent! Some help, at last. I thought maybe we could catch these kids for a change. I yelled “Call the police, those kids just hit me!” It failed to break through his apathy. I moved closer, dodging disgruntled commuters annoyed that I would dare use a crosswalk on 19th Street. I yelled again. This time, he heard me and responded “you’ve got a cell phone, call them yourself.” Stunned, I moved closer and told him for a third time to call the police. He turned his back to me, and resumed talking to his friend, shaking his head, and saying “some people just think the world revolves around him.” At this point, I might have actually been angrier at him than the rock-throwing kids. I went up to him and said “I’ve just been hit in the head with a rock, can you call the cops?” His response: “You want another one?” Somehow, I managed to walk away before my head literally exploded.
Unfortunately, I did not get his name, but at this point I did call the cops. The police responded, and were as frustrated as I was, although altogether unsurprised at the Metro employee’s attitude. We went through the now familiar ritual of filling out a report, and once again I was impressed with the seriousness which MPD is taking this. Officer Jerome, in particular, was very helpful. It was encouraging for me to see that MPD took the incident as personally as I did.
Their attention to the matter continued yesterday. I’ve been in close contact with several folks in MPD, and they are very serious in stopping this. They’ve put me in contact with Eliot-Hine Jr. High’s principal as well as DCPS’s Chief of Family and Public Engagement. I hope to hear from them soon (with an understanding that today is a holiday), and hopefully we can cut this problem off at the source.
I have also been in contact with Metro, and perhaps that we can get some progress there as well. I couldn’t care less about the employee I ran into (mostly), but I hope that more Metro staffers take customer service, and more importantly, public safety seriously. If they need lessons, they can ask Ms. Evans, Stadium-Armory’s morning station manager, who is unfailingly friendly and responsive. It can be done, folks. I would like to hear more from Metro than, “we don’t have jurisdiction for crimes off of Metro property.” True enough, but you shouldn’t be the getaway driver either.
Finally, I would ask that anyone else that sees activity like this to call the cops and report it. I didn’t report the first few instances I saw because it was obvious that the kids would be safely in the Metro before MPD responded. That was a mistake, and I ask you not to make it.
I hope by today at 4:45 pm, this problem has been solved. Feel free to come by and see. I’ll be the guy on his front porch with the camera.
THIH Update: Here is the coverage of Tim’s story on WUSA9 and ABC7 New:
