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Woman knocked off bike in Southwest Corridor mugging in Jamaica Plain

UPDATE: California man charged.

A woman riding her bicycle in the Southwest Corridor near English High School was knocked off by a guy who managed to make off with her iPhone 3G after failing to get her bike. She suffered a busted lip and a black eye in the attack.

Police started looking for a white man with tattoos and quickly found a possible suspect nearby.

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Comments

Where in the Southwest Corridor? (it is miles long)

At what time of day?

Do you have a link to the police report or a tweet or anything else with more info?

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I think that was about 930 pm last night. the pointer on the map is fairly correct, it was about 75 yards south of McBride up the bike path.

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Nothing to link to, was listening to it happen on the scanner.

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A six year old iPhone is definitely worth assault charge, right?

Loser.

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heroin is a hell of a drug

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for whatever reason, don't do very well in the 'long range thinking' and 'making sound decisions' categories.

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is irrellevant. Too bad Apple just got more free advertising from a news story.

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It's relevant to catching the perp if he sells it on craigslist.

Or, you know, just to help the vic recover it.

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.

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Ugh I ride this section all the time. It can get real creepy there at night.

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I'll be riding by there after work today. But just in case you are the mugger, I carry a 4 year old $10 Tracfone and will be riding my old beater backup bike, so please leave me alone.

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I love the SWC bikeway, but I haven't ridden on it in some time. 3 or so years. I was planning on doing an early weekend morning ride from Forest Hills to Back Bay, but have read a few online reviews and whatnot that are making me second-guess this ride. Is the SWC bad news?

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It's still fun to ride during the day and very convenient. You just have to watch for idiots that let their kids play on the path, people that walk in the dedicated bike zone, people that just stop and stand, etc.

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and have never had any trouble though I'm very alert to the possibility. It rarely feels creepy or deserted to me. But yeah--that new playground, while wonderful, is a pain because it's on both sides of the paths and people and kids tend to wander aimlessly across without looking.

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when you approach the playground on your bike, best to slow down, correct?

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For Pete's sake. Way to go off point.

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No, Pete's not here yet... I'm guessing we'll hear from him in a few comments. 50/50 shot whether he'll be blaming the rider for doing something that made her more prone to mugging, or openly fantasizing about inflicting corporal punishment on the mugger.

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The passive aggressive parents that chalked up the bike path with annoying twee phrases like "Caution: Children laughing/Caution: Children dancing/Caution: children enjoying life" are the worst. How about you tell your damn kids to not play on the path.

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Write: "caution, entitled parents not watching kids"
"Oblivious child neglect ahead"
"Caution - Parents on Cellphones"

Or some such.

I taught mine to stay right, pass left, and cross carefully. It isn't rocket science.

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Oh and there's also a guy I who teaches folks how to ride unicycles that is also by the playground. Nothing says riding comfortably like dorks falling on their faces randomly inches from you sending 10 lbs of steel in your direction.

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who left the note about the pan-handler.

ugh - there are TWO parallel paths there - plus an entire paved area for you to teach your kids how to ride a bike or do whatever - the bike path sees THOUSANDS of bike commuters a day. why aren't they out chalking up the street bitching out drivers? they're the reason we're on the bike path instead of the street. This just reinforces the belief among bike commuters that we're second class citizens.

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Love how people walk on the bike path when there's a path dedicated to pedestrians 3 feet away.
If I am riding on there at 7AM on a Sunday, would it be safe, or would I need to worry about Crackhead McGillicuddy?

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I'll give the defense, since yes, I do run on the part of the bike path designated for bikes (whether in fact pedestrians are forbidden from it is debatable, just as it would be if one were talking about what bikes should do when there are bike lanes.)

The bike paths are better maintained, don't have steep climbs, and usually have more shade, which is key in summer months. There are sections of the corridor where pedestrians are directed to the sidewalks, which is worse on one's knees than asphalt. In short, the bike path is nicer.

That said, pedestrians should be cognizant of the fact they are on a bike path and give the cyclists a berth, while cyclists should always, and I mean from the time they start peddling, be aware of the possibility of obstructions in their way.

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Please don't walk on the bike path while wearing earbuds or headphones. Our little bells are no good if you can't hear them.

This also means that, for people considering biking the SWC for the first time, beware most of early afternoon near English High.

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I don't think they should be used by anyone moving. Walkers, runners, cyclists, drivers (yes, even though all cars have audio systems.) It's a whole universe of unsafe.

(written while wearing earphones, though sitting at a desk)

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Sadly, only about 5% of riders on the path use bells, or make any alert to their approach. I have narrowly escaped death while walking my dog, because of cyclists who come zipping by with no warning, always around New Minton, where, for whatever reason, the bike and pedestrian paths switch sides. I keep my dog on leash all the time, but she still has about a 3ft of reach, so say she sees a squirrel and tries to go after it, and you come flying by within 6in of me. Things can presumably get pretty ugly. Also, even under the watchful eye of a diligent parent, a little kids might dash out onto the path, so maybe in high traffic areas you might need to slow down a little. I think it's a bit ridiculous to take no responsibility and expect some golden path that you can tear down like it's the Tour de France. The fact of the matter is that it's a path that runs down a major artery of the city, so yes, there are going to be people, and pets, and festivals, and wild animals, so ride responsibly, just as you expect the parents and dog walkers to do. People would be generally less hostile towards cyclists if cyclists accepted that they to are part of the problem, it's not just the drivers, the pedestrians, Mercury being in retrograde, etc. Some of you a responsible, some are careless douche bags.

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How about you get out of the Goddamn bike path with your dog and pay attention?

This would be one thing if you were talking about the Charles River path but the SW Corridor trail has TWO SPECIFIC PATHS for bikes and everyone else..

Half the time when I shout "ON YOUR LEFT!" or "THIS IS A BIKE PATH!" clueless moron pedestrians who take up the entire breath of the path instead of sticking to the right who can't read a sign want to simply stop and look around.

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I'm going to run on it at points, (especially between Green and New Minton) because it is 10x better to run on it there instead of the sidewalk.

But, I always hug a side of the path and will always move off when more than one biker comes along.

I have a dog, but walking a dog on the bike path in general, but especially with slack enough that he can jump out, is real bad form, for bikers, and your dog, who could easily get slammed into.

People just need to pay attention to their surroundings, keep their dogs in check, and defer to bikes when it gets crowded.

And damn, more people need to get/use their bells, it makes for a much safer and civl engagements between the warring factions of pedestrians, cyclists and cars.

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has never felt unsafe to me - I run it and bike it frequently, all hours, and have never come across anything truly dangerous. Yeah, the drinking / drugging folks on the benches in front of forest hills by New Washington Street are probably not the most savory lot, but I've never seen any threatening activity by them either.

Keep your head up if you see something that makes you uneasy you should probably change your route, but you should do that anywhere.

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I have seen a lot more police presence in last two weeks, including a statie and yesterday for the first time two BPD bike cops. Hopefully that will keep garbage like this incident to a minimum.

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The area around Bromley Heath can be a little dicey. Some kids harass the bikers, either by blocking the path or throwing things--I've had two friends have rocks thrown at them, once from the new playground, once from the roof. Generally I've never had any problems there but I did hear that a couple of women on bikes got harassed, was wondering if that explained the extra cops.

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Ive ridden the path frequently and have not had any problems except for one time, behind the police station kids were throwing things at bicyclists (spawn of Mark?). So the idea that a police presence will do anything is pretty well answered for me.

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I got hit by the rock throwing kids behind the police station, too! It was a few years ago and it was so random - hasn't happened before it since to me. The one that hit me hurt though.

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As to all the path etiquette comments. It really isn't a high speed area. As long as people don't walk abreast and block the whole path it isn't a big deal. but pedestrians seem to prefer the path even when that have an equal and parallel path.

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I talked to police about this one. Turns out the bicyclist was a 66-year-old woman and the alleged perp was a 28-year-old man from California. Here's the post: http://www.jamaicaplainnews.com/2014/07/66-year-old-woman-knocked-from-b...

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I’m weighing in here. The best response to the thugs and perks is more people using the corridor. Kids playing – that’s great, pedestrians, dog walkers – yes they may get in the way every once in a while but they make the corridor safer – bring them on.

What turned this horrible experience around was the young man riding past who jumped off his bike, pulled the attacker off me and his description helped the perpetrator get caught. Bikers sticking together, more use of the corridor that’s a great response. I feel the same way as Ed Forry, 70 years old from Dorchester who got mugged last week in Dot Park. Here’s a link to his article: http://www.dotnews.com/2014/my-walk-park-took-dangerous-turn. I’ll be back on my bike next week. Don’t be surprised if I see you and ask for a buddy when riding the section between McBride and Forest Hills.

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