Bike theft attempt

[From the Bike Hon list]
Just a heads up for area cyclists re. a bike theft attempt on Thurs., July 24,in north central Balto..

This past Thurs. about 10:30 pm I was biking eastward on 33rd. in front of Eastern HS/now a Hopkins office bldg. across from Stadium Place and a little east of the YMCA. I was on the sidewalk because my taillight wasn't working (generally there's very little foot traffic there), and it was out of the way of any fast moving vehicles. When I looked ahead, I suddenly saw a young man running towards me in the middle of the sidewalk. I kept biking towards him with the hope he'd get out of the way. The next thing that happened was he threw his elbow to my head striking my right cheekbone. The hedge on to the right of the sidewalk broke my fall. I got up, my cheek had swollen already, to find a smaller boy, about 15, between me and my bike which was guarded by my assailant, who was about 6 ft. and 17 yrs. He said "I want your bike," which seemed like an odd statement. In retrospect, I think he was having difficulty moving the bike--I believe the wheel got twisted around and the brakes jammed in the collision. Meanwhile I saw 2 other kids running from the Stadium Place side near Ednor, so the odds were going south. Fortunately,within seconds along came a police car which stopped with the officer immediately getting out and approaching me. The policeman said he first saw the kids and the bike, but when he saw me emerge from behind the hedge he knew something was up. When he stopped the kids fled...without my bike. Two other cars showed up pretty quickly along with an EMT vehicle. They offered to take me to the hospital, but indicated is was a small cut which they cleaned, so I didn't think it seemed necessary. We searched along 33rd and in the area between the Alameda and Harford Road--Homestead/Coldspring neighborhood. I couldn't recognize any suspects.

I've since gotten a new taillight and will probably change my route (maybe 39th and 36th St. behind Stadium Place enroute to Northwood) and start using an older bike. I heard a few people tell me they've heard of 3-4 other bike robbery attempts. So stay alert, carry your cell phone--if you have one, a whistle and not too much else and travel with a friend if possible.

Safe biking,
- DS