On June 24, a woman was walking in the vicinity of the service station at Rundberg and Parkfield, when she was approached from behind by a dark-colored car carrying several passengers. The group shouted things at her and she felt herself struck in the arm by a thrown object. She raised her other arm to protect herself and was again struck, hard enough to raise bruises and blood, and was hit by raw eggs as well. She turned and ran back to the station, where she called for help.

The incident was reported to 911 and to the North Central Command Center. It received no publicity, and perpetrators have yet to be identified.

In the Center of Our Neighborhood

Parkfield is a primary street for pedestrians, centering such areas as the Quail Creek Plaza, Quail Creek Park and Wooldridge Elementary, plus offices, apartments, condos and private homes. It is also a major route area for Capital Metro, with routes 240, 1M, 101, 142, 325 and 481 crisscrossing the Parkfield-Rutland-Rundberg-Mearns Meadow quadrangle, and North Lamar just to the east. It can be poorly lighted in places, including near the bus stops.

Anyone Can Be a Target

I myself frequently ride the bus, and have been harassed while walking to and from the bus stops. I've taken banshee screams, obscenities, car swerves, and flipped cigarettes. This is in broad daylight, and I am nowhere close to looking vulnerable.

I'm also very aware that if it happens in my area, it's happening elsewhere in the NACA neighborhood. And they're getting away with it.

Open Your Eyes

If anything like this happens to you, don't shrug it off. It could embolden them into escalating to worse - like pelting women with rocks and eggs.

Try to remember whatever you can of the incident: the date and time, the make and color of the car, descriptions of its occupants, the license if you can get it easily. DO NOT make yourself a threat by craning to peer at the license, or by writing things down immediately. The cowards might make another pass if they think you can identify them. Stay calm, put your mind in gear and repeat to yourself what you have observed until you get to a safe place.

Then, REPORT IT. Call 911, or the North Central Command Center at 974-5500, if the incident is fresh; or 311 if some time has passed. The more information is gathered, the safer we all will be.

And finally, let us know here at NACA. The website email address is naca_austin@hotmail.com, and both I and Anthony Williams keep an eye on it. Or you can use the e-mail addresses on the Officers and Contacts list.

It's our street. It's our sidewalk. Let's help to keep it safe.

~Keith Huntsman