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by John W_Archive
Kind of relevant, I thought. This is fucked up.
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Beating victims plan to fight back
By Johnathon E. Briggs, Ray Quintanilla and Emma Graves Fitzsimmons
Tribune staff reporters
Published March 15, 2007, 10:00 PM CDT
Two days after they were beaten in a city park as they tried to help a girl who was under attack, Edward White and his wife, Angelique Denwiddie, are determined to move back to Chicago.
White, a native of the North Side, said Thursday that he wants to return to the city to help youths find jobs and stay out of trouble.
"It's time. I want to be a part of the community. I want to keep it strong," said White, 38, who has lived in Skokie with this wife and children for four years.
Seeking better schools for their children, he and his wife moved to the suburb after a decade in the Edgewater neighborhood
Recently, the independent filmmaker had been dropping in on his old stomping grounds, saying hello to former neighbors and hanging out at Emmerson Park, where he said he always felt safe.
But White and Denwiddie said they were beaten in the park Tuesday when they came to the aid of a teenage girl who was being attacked by a group of young people. White had brought his family with him when he went to play at his old neighborhood park.
"When my wife told them to stop, she knew she was going to have to defend this girl with her life," said White. "She ended up taking punches to her face and ribs."
White then confronted the groupand was hit about 30 times in the head, he said. He still has large bruises across his forehead.
On Thursday, Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) called for increased police presence in the park at 1820 W. Granville Ave.
"While the 50th Ward has made great strides in reducing crime and promoting safety, more remains to be done," Stone said. "We have to step up our police presence in Emmerson Park."
Police responded by sending a special unit to patrol the park, said Bruce Rottner, the Rogers Park District police commander. The beating was an isolated incident and does not reflect a broader crime trend in the neighborhood, Rottner said at a news conference held by Stone, who faces a runoff election in April.
Two police cars and Park District security were at the park Thursday evening. The park, which has basketball and tennis courts and a playground, is in a diverse residential area with Indian and Ethiopian restaurants nearby.
White said he was angry that the alderman and police stopped short of pushing for cameras to be installed in the park. "I got 30 blows to the head, and I want action," he said.
His wife said officials argued that there was no money in the budget for cameras.
"We have money for the Olympics, but we can't get cameras in a low-income neighborhood where kids are getting mauled?" she said. "I'm disappointed."
The pair spoke with the alderman's opponent, Naisy Dolar, who staged a protest outside of Stone's news conference with about a dozen supporters holding signs reading, "Bad for the 50th: Unsafe Parks."
"Ald. Stone has continued to deny that crime in the 50th Ward is a problem," Dolar said. "We need to provide alternatives for our youth, and we need to make sure our police get the support and resources they need so that we can work toward crime prevention and not crime reaction."
Police said the beating occurred Tuesday after words were exchanged between a 15-year-old girl and a group of youths gathered at the park on an unusually warm day. A few moments later, three males and a female began beating the girl on the park grounds, authorities said.
Police arrived at about 6:30 p.m. and arrested four juveniles. Three of the juveniles were charged with battery, police said. The fourth is a 17-year-old male who was charged with assault, authorities added.
Police said each of the attackers has been released from custody, pending a court date.
White and his wife recalled the incident differently.
White said he was enjoying a pickup game of basketball about 5:30 p.m., when a group of teenage boys and girls—five- to 10-people deep in some spots—approached the park from a hill to the east, screaming about attacking a 15-year-old girl.
The group surrounded her on the sidewalk and began to pummel her with fists and legs, ripping her clothes, pulling her hair and dragging her into the street. The group, which White said was made up of about 20 boys and 15 girls, threw the girl against parked cars.
"I felt like I was in a Third World country," said Denwiddie, a secretary at a downtown legal firm. "The disrespect for life was amazing."
Denwiddie said she dialed 911, but after several minutes passed, she rushed to the girl's aid.
Enduring punches, Denwiddie reached into the group, pulled the girl behind her and backed up against a nearby brick wall, telling the girl and her sister to flee.
"I can't believe you did this. You are all crazy," Denwiddie said she reprimanded the teens. Her remarks, she said, provoked an attack. "They were coming from everywhere. I was pulling them off my back."
With his wife in distress, White said he distracted the group by calling them "punks." They rushed him and began beating him in the face.
White said he is dismayed that only a fraction of the youths involved in the attack were arrested, given that the Rogers Park District police station is just five blocks from the park.
"How did 35 people pounce on three people and only four arrests are made?" White asked.
