[Magdalen] Prayer Request

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

Very, very well put (as usual, Ann)!

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Fri, Nov 4, 2016 at 10:02 PM, Ann Markle <ann.markle at aya.yale.edu> wrote:

> Prayers for Rachel, certainly. But I do have to add that I'm so proud of
> her. She really did do everything perfectly. I'm a great believer in making
> a huge scene if the victim of a crime, if at all possible. I was nearly
> robbed in Rome (at the ATM near the Spanish Steps), and the robber actually
> returned my ATM card before running away, when I shouted and made a scene.
> Once my friend was robbed at an ATM here in Buffalo, and we chased the guy
> and yelled at passersby until the police caught him. You tell Rachel that
> she's my hero.
>
> On Friday, November 4, 2016, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Prayers, please, for Rachel, a young woman who is the daughter of a
> friend
> > in Tennessee, who was assaulted Wednesday. She is injured and badly
> shaken,
> > but alive. It could have been worse. She was very brave and did all the
> > right things.
> >
> > Here are the circumstances, in her own words (She will not mind my
> sharing
> > them here as she shared them on Facebook):
> >
> > Yesterday afternoon I did what I almost always do and I headed to Panther
> > Creek to walk/run. I parked at the visitor center, and went my usual
> route
> > across the length of the road and back down toward Old Wagon Trail. There
> > was a man behind me on the road as I was walking towards the trail and we
> > briefly talked about which side of the road was the safest to be on.
> When I
> > turned onto the trail I took out an ear bud and assumed the footsteps I
> > heard behind me belonged to the man I had just spoken to.
> >
> > About half way down the trail the person behind me seemed awfully close
> > which was more annoying than anything. When we turned the first sharp
> > corner on the path so that we were both facing Panther Creek Road the man
> > came up quickly beside me. I was relieved assuming he was finally going
> to
> > pass me. Instead he punched me in the jaw. I was very disoriented, but
> not
> > so much that I didn't realize he was very aggressively grabbing and
> groping
> > me. All I could do was scream for help at the top of my lungs. I choose
> Old
> > Wagon because it's the most popular and therefore the most heavily
> traveled
> > trail in the park. I take this route nearly every single weekday, and run
> > into familiar faces on it all the time. It was around 1 in the afternoon
> on
> > a beautiful day. I was sure that if I screamed loud enough someone would
> > hear me. I have no idea how long we struggled, but he did finally get
> > scared of the noise I was making and he took off.
> >
> > As he ran away I snapped a picture of him with my phone. He saw me do
> that,
> > and ran back toward me. He had already tried to take me down with a
> punch,
> > and he knew I wasn't going to stop yelling for help so this time he
> > strangled me. I have never in my life been so afraid. I couldn't breathe
> or
> > think and he kept demanding that I give him the phone. I finally held it
> > out and he took it. He called me some names, and then told me to run in
> the
> > direction we had been going, and he would go the other way. I did my best
> > to run back to the visitor center and waved down a ranger in the parking
> > lot.
> >
> > I begged the ranger to quickly close the front gate hoping we could catch
> > him before he could leave, but he drove by as I was talking. I pointed
> him
> > out and the ranger went after him immediately. We filled out a report,
> and
> > they took pictures of my face, neck, and chest. He got away, but he had
> my
> > phone. My father (who has lost a phone or 2) was able to use my Google
> > account to track down my phone, and we called the police who used that
> > information to find and arrest him. He confessed and is being charged
> with
> > aggravated assault, sexual assault, theft, and evading arrest. I'm ONLY
> > putting this out there because I have so many friends and acquaintances
> who
> > run and hike in Panther Creek. PLEASE don't go alone. If you do tell
> > someone where you are going and bring pepper spray. We can't let this
> > happen to anyone else!!!
> >
>
>
> --
> Ann
>
> The Rev. Ann Markle
> Buffalo, NY
> ann.markle at aya.yale.edu
>