BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

yeah, there's a crazy thread on the roboto board started by the guy who got shot. he rode all the way home to bloomfield.

and it appears he's fine, just shaken up

http://nevertellmetheodds.org/t.php?id=113508&r=110

Crazy!

I nearly got jumped on Highland right by Peabody last night by a group of four high school aged looking kids. They apparently need to spend more time practicing their basketball shot, as they missed me by a good margin.

1)roboto board still exists?

2) he posted on the board about it before seeking medical attention? (or did i read that wrong?)

3) that is horrible. Warm weather seems to be associated with attacks again perhaps.

If I ever get shot, I'm not going to bike home and post about it on the Internet. Double yikes.

Wow that is crazy. He should count himself lucky that it wasn't anything more severe.

(scroll down on erok's link to see the photos)

goddamnit I'm proud of my bike. It got me home like a trusty steed. feeding it the finest oats and hay right now.

Hard core.

Yeah, the warm weather is inviting people to unleash their cabin fever (drivers, criminals, bored youth, everyone!).

I just saw a group of about 15-20 youth crossing Penn into Homewood...11:15pm-ish on my way home. Fortunately, it was in the rear view mirror of my car.

RE the guy posting to the internet right after getting shot....the dude was probably traumatized by the incident and reaching out to anyone he thought might listen and empathize. He may have needed emotional support as much as medical attention.

I had a pretty terrifying incident with armed and high neighbors a few years ago when I lived alone, and they were the only other tenants in the building. I fled my apartment to the Wilkinsburg police station, where the cops basically laughed at me and told me to go home.

I'm just sayin' ...sometimes the usual authorities are not the first place people want to turn to when they need help.

I posted on here as soon as I got home because I knew heads on bikes or feets would be out and about so it was a cautionary post. (explanation from the guy who got shot)

Damn, just damn.

Stef: you're reading it right. When he called the police to report the incident they insisted that he get to a hospital.

Roboto board is still alive and well.

33 year old guy riding on negley late at night. That's way too close to home. Glad he's ok.

I fled my apartment to the Wilkinsburg police station, where the cops basically laughed at me and told me to go home.

I'm just sayin' ...sometimes the usual authorities are not the first place people want to turn to when they need help.

Maybe the lesson is that the Wilkinsburg police aren't the first place to turn to when you need help. I had a very prompt response from police in Squirrel Hill a year or two ago when I called about some drunk guys throwing trash in the street late at night. Multiple squad cars within minutes, and no laughing.

Police who laugh at the people they're supposed to serve should be looking for a different line of work. Sorry to hear of your bad experience.

That cyclist Jackson sounds tough. I suspect he was raised by a Kansas farmer couple who found him as an infant in a field near a big glowing rock.

Respect!!

Police who laugh at the people they're supposed to serve should be looking for a different line of work. Sorry to hear of your bad experience.

Thanks, Steven.

Peebles Ave is the city line. At that time, I lived on the Wilkinsburg side. After the cops blew me off, I didn't even feel safe going back home. I fled to a friend's house a few blocks away, which put me in Pittsburgh limits, and those police couldn't help because it was a different borough. I moved out of the apartment very shortly thereafter and lost a lot of money on the lease.

One thing I learned: If you need to call the cops on your neighbor, don't do it on a cordless phone (especially if you live inside the same secured building with thugs). These phones are easy to eavesdrop, and it is not illegal to do so. My neighbors most likely had a police scanner, but even some baby monitors will pick up cordless phone conversations.

Another thing: it really bothered me how on the Roboto board the amount of people who were reassuring the victim that being shot gave him instant cool status that would lead him to get laid by lots of women. Really?

It's terrible what happened to "Jackson." I'm glad he got away, but he's lucky [edit: lucky that he wasn't more seriously injured], not badass for getting shot. I didn't know that the Sunoco station where the incident happened was such a problem. Many on this board travel through there regularly. Winebiddle Ave in Garfield N of Penn has been a high-crime area for years, too - over a decade in fact.

I always ride past that gas station. I had no idea that gas station was bad either. People have been known to just pull out dangerously into traffic from that gas station lot-that was the only concern i previously had. Hoping this isn't a regular thing. I am kind of getting limited on my route home from Oakland if this is going to be a problem. I take negley or highland past Peabody to get home. I guess there are roundabout ways. I will just keep my eyes open.

Roboto has been shut down for at least a year, yet the message board lives on. Never really posted on that one.

@stefb it might be good to have in mind a couple of safe places you can go to immediately if you need to turn around or change your route. It's been a while, but I've seen large (15-30) groups of teens hold up traffic walking to that Sunoco across from Peabody. (geez...is this a Sunoco thing?).

I generally feel safe in the area, but as the weather gets warm (and the economy worse), I think we're all going to have to be more careful on our bikes.

One place you might bail to is Ritters? Baum is usually a fast ride and that diner is 24 hours. Then have a friend come get you? Sorry if this sounds dopey: its just good to plan in advance a few outs to your route. I should follow my own advice...

Pseudacris, i'm not defending some of the comments over there, but it might be good to understand that he's in the local rap act, grand buffet, so all the jokes about street cred are kinda in line with their satirical MO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Buffet

Hmm. It seems to me both of these areas - at these gas stations, as well as that stretch of Highland between Peabody and the Seminary and the corresponding part of Negley were pretty well identified as trouble last spring/summer/fall when those assaults took place.

Because of that, I would hope the city police would step-up their presence in the area. It is a well-known bicycle corridor, and they are even maintaining ELB as a designated bike route. They have to make it safe, and not just for cyclists.

@erok: thanks for the explanation. I used to watch them @ roboto eons ago. Didn't make the connection. Sarcasm on the nets, meh.

I still don't think its cool for anyone to have been shot. Really sorry it happened to him. Hope the jackasses with guns can find something better to do. It could just as easily be someone trying to cover rent for their kids as someone saving up for a fancy SUV. We need jobs!

Did anyone here go see Chris Ivey's East Of Liberty: In Unlivable Times this weekend? I went last night. It was good to hear the perspective of some of the teenagers who live or go to school in the neighborhood -- how all the gentrification & hipster culture is playing out for them.

Anyone remember the Guardian Angels? That might be a good thing throughout the E End especially if it were a mixed-demographic group.

I think cops that gave a shit would be a good thing throughout the East End. Or a group of cowboys rolling Dirty Harry style.

Dirty Harry was a cop. Harry Callahan, SFPD. And a sort of rogue, vigilante cop at that. Are you encouraging a vigilante response, BradQ?

I'm saying that it's no secret who and where the problems in the area are and that it is pretty obvious that the police don't care.

I can absolutely see riding home and posting after getting shot, depending of course on what you were shot with.

Years ago, I was shot in a drive by. It really, really stung but I had thought that I might have been just hit by a rock kicked up by a tire or something. hen I checked it later, I saw the small, point welt indicative of having been shot by a pellet gun.

Now, in the case of a stray, small caliber bullet (like a 22) or even a larger bullet that struck something else and only a piece of it ricocheted into you, I could well imagine the injury not being very severe or you might not have even realized that you had been actually shot.

Oh, and I'm not at all saying vigilante justice in the area, even if upon re-reading my post it really sounds like that. I was seriously picturing literal cowboys, in their full ridiculousness. You know, pointing out that I'd much rather have police patrols that have some effect. Sarcasm online.

I'm more saying that if you and I know where consistent problem corners and sections of streets are, there is no way the police don't. And to me at least nothing seems done about it, or at least not much of substance.

We've hashed this out in other threads before, but, believe it or not, that area of town is probably the safest its been in at least 20 years.

I agree that the cops probably know the trouble spots, and I know I see plenty of cops cruising that stretch of road. Zone 5 is a big place, though, and crime is going to happen, short of having a cop stationed on every road every minute of the day.

I'm mostly just playing devil's advocate here.

Pseuda, I saw something about the Chris Ivey thing buut didn't go. Any highlights worth sharing?

There are a lot of clips on his youtube channel (hyperboymedia). Some students who are in a GED-type program talk about not feeling welcome in the neighborhood they grew up in. Although its nice to have new shops, people eye them suspiciously when they try to cash paychecks at the bank or buy groceries at Trader Joes. Also, some discussion of how hard it is to ever get legit work again if you have a criminal background, making it hard to change one's life around.

Thing is, you get shot at Negley and Broad? You want to GET THE HELL AWAY.

If you can.

You don't want to hang around while young people work out their disagreements.

"Say, when you guys are done shooting each other, could you call me an ambulance? Thanks."

A hospital is a good idea. AWAY is the critical part, though.

PS I was shot by a paintball once, in a driveby. It hurt and when I reached for the area, my hand came back with dark, sticky fluid. I thought it was blood.

Home was not too far. I lived with a health professional. I could walk. Going home was the right thing.

Posting on Roboto? Well, I suppose if I wanted to impress the chicks...

I've encountered an undercover cop frisking a guy on the corner of Penn and Negley by that gas station.

People seem to always be hanging out around that gas station and between Penn and ELB on Negley all the time.

I always try to take the right lane (North) incase somebody decides to jump out and there's usually cars parked in the left lane anyways.

Thing is, there isn't a law against standing around and everybody who's standing around isn't a drug dealer. So knowing where the problem is isn't exactly a solution.

A Highland Park friend said you can buy stolen electronics in the mini mart at that gas station. It's not my favorite.

i totally agree with bradQ on the observation that the cops don't seem give a rats ass about problem areas until someone is dead or bleeding.

people loitering? set up staggered patrols:

- 1AM police cruiser slow-rolls by

- 1:15AM bike cops roll by

- 1:20AM foot patrol walks by

etc...

people will likely stop hanging out (aka: loitering) in the spots where they know that the police are watching - or just get busted like brazen dummies.