No One Called 911

by Paul Bass | Nov 21, 2014 3:00 pm

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Posted to: Legal Writes, The Hill, True Vote

“Help! Help!” Bret Bird screamed. A dozen or more bystanders could see him being attacked. They could hear him. Some waited by the line of cabs in front of the train station. Some were busy beginning weekend travel. Two sat mere feet from the melee. But no one responded as Bird continued screaming and wrestling with one of his assailants over an iPhone 6. Viewing train station video footage of the attack after it all ended, the district’s top cop, Lt. Holly Wasilewski, was stunned to see so many people witnessed the attack without even whipping out a cell phone. “Nobody called 911. Nobody did anything,” she marveled. “They stood and watched.” It could have been New Haven’s Kitty Genovese moment updated for the social-media age. Except that, in the end, an “angel” heard Bird’s voice and rushed in. Cold “I thought it was smart,” Bird said of his visit to Union Station last Friday afternoon. Bird, a 44-year-old part-time college biology teacher who also manages a couple of properties in town, was physically bruised and emotionally shaken as he recalled the episode in a coffeehouse conversation a week later. His mind also turned to the question of what it means to be one’s “brother’s keeper” in today’s society. Bird had to catch a 4:49 a.m. train to New York on Saturday for a neurology and immunology seminar. Since the Metro-North window doesn’t open until 6:10 a.m., he decided to walk to Union Station on Friday afternoon to buy his ticket in advance. He bought the ticket, then decided he could use a hot drink before venturing back into the cold. Then he looked at the line out the door of Union Station’s main-floor Dunkin Donuts. He left the station. It was around 3:50 p.m. and still light out. As he prepared to walk home to Wooster Square, the Union Avenue pedestrian walk signal flashed on. Bird noticed the Best Mini Market convenience store across the street in the parking-lot entrance to the Church Street South apartment complex. He hadn’t noticed the store before. He didn’t know that, as violent crime has steadily decreased in New Haven the past three years, it has remained a scourge at Church Street South. He didn’t know that city officials have butted heads for years with the out-of-state slumlords who own the 301-unit complex over conditions there. He didn’t know that New Haven has tried, to no avail, to get the landlord to improve conditions or sell the property to someone who’ll build a nicer community. He didn’t know that New Haven’s previous mayoral administration tried to convince the federal government last year, to no avail, to cut off the $3 million in taxpayer Section 8 rent subsidies it sends to Church Street South’s owners each year to keep them in business. He didn’t know that Lt. Wasilewski has begun meeting monthly with Church Street South tenants (pictured) to work together on making the complex safer. All Bird knew was that he was thirsty, and cold. And he might be able to grab a hot drink. So he crossed the street. Along the way, he took out his green iPhone 6 and texted his sister. He was still texting as he entered the Church Street South lot. About 10 feet in, he said, “I was hit in the head. Someone grabbed my phone.” Four teens had him surrounded. In full view of the late-afternoon Union Station crowd. Bird held fast to the phone. He didn’t want to relinquish it. “My life is on that phone. My social security. Bank accounts. Push a button it’s all there. It’s principle,” he said. “Also, they didn’t ask nicely.” With his free arm, Bird put the phone-grabber in a headlock. Bird, who stands six feet tall and weighs about 220 pounds, last wrestled in high school. Why did he put a fight? “If everybody stands down and waits for the police to come, I feel sorry for them,” he said. Bird and the phone-grabber fell to the ground, still wrestling. It all happened in full view of the dozen or so people Bird had just passed leaving the station. Two people were close to the melee in the lot, clearly visible in the video Wasilewski reviewed. It showed one woman continuing to sit still on a stone curb. It showed a man walking back and forth by her and the melee. Bird could no longer see beyond his attackers, because his glasses had flown off. He still had the phone, and an L.L. Bean bag on his arm, as he continued grappling with the phone-grabber. They stood up, then fell on the ground again. “Dude,” Bird claimed he told the young man, “this is not going to end the way you thought.” Back on the ground, Bird was now being kicked and hit by the other teens. “Throw us the phone!” they yelled. And: “Finish him off! Finish it! Finish it!” At this point, Bird started yelling as loudly as he could: “Help! Help! Help!” He didn’t later remember how many times he yelled it, except that he did it over and over and over again, without any response. Then a man appeared. He had happened to be across the street at the train station. When the screams eventually reached his ears, he ran over. The man—whose identity is being withheld to avoid repercussions—stepped into the melee, Bird said. The phone-grabber let go and stepped back. Then he and his cohorts approached Bird and the man, who is about Bird’s height and age but huskier, Bird estimated. Exhausted, Bird fell to the ground behind the man who came to his rescue. “You ain’t no cop!” one of the teens yelled. “What?” the man responded in a tone of challenge. “You come across this street again, nigger, we’ll kill you!” the teens taunted. The man, like the teens, is black; Bird is white. The man grabbed Bird and told him to run: “Let’s just get out of here!” “My glasses ...” Bird remarked. The man grabbed Bird’s glasses and escorted Bird away. The teens fled through the housing complex. Inside the Best Mini Market, no one knew an attack had taken place, Noel Patel said a week later. He was working the register at the time of the attack and hadn’t noticed any commotion. “Friday is the busiest time of day for me” inside the store, he said. “You’re My Angel” After leaving the scene, the man deposited Bird at the Amtrak office inside Union Station. The Amtrak police interviewed him. They determined that the attack occurred outside train station property, so they notified New Haven police, who came and interviewed Bird again. Bird and the man offered descriptions of the teens. “What were you doing there?” one city officer asked Bird. “Those are the worst projects in town.” Another officer disagreed. He selected Farnam Courts off Grand Avenue. Bird was more familiar with that complex; until he got rid of his car this year, he used to stop there on weekly runs delivering donated loaves of Chabaso bread to the hungry. Bird, a lifelong Mormon, said he spent three years making those deliveries as part of an effort called LDS Feed the Need. Before departing, Bird hugged the man who’d rescued him. “You’re my angel,” he told him. “Thank you. Thank you.” Then Bird pressed $20 into his hand. “No thanks. That’s not why I did it,” the man said. “Absolutely,” Bird said. “I’m very thankful. It could have been a lot worse.” Brother’s Keepers Bird returned to the station (by cab) the next morning for his seminar. He’d been bloodied a bit in the attack. His ribs were bruised. He had cuts and scrapes. He needed new glasses. Wasilewski and fellow officers investigated the case. They brought in Bird and the “angel” to make IDs of suspects. As of Friday, she said, a warrant was being drawn up for the arrest of one of the alleged attackers, a 15-year-old boy. The investigation continues. The video she reviewed was of limited use because a tree blocked some of the action; the video camera is stationed down the block by the train station garage. Later Bird would learn that either he or the phone-grabber had activated the camera during the tussle. Unfortunately no useful pictures were taken; the photo at left is the clearest image that emerged. They remained on his phone a week later—reminders, along with the emotional scars, of the greater danger he had escaped. He sweated through nights of partial, oft-interrupted sleep. “I felt really shaken,” he said. “My stomach has not settled since. It was very traumatic.” He’s been loading up on valerian root and kava kava “to settle the nerves.” As he replays the step-by-step events of that afternoon, he also focuses on the actions, or inaction, of the bystanders. So does Lt. Wasilewski. “It’s upsetting,” she said. “I can understand not wanting to get involved. But it doesn’t mean anything to call 911” so police can get to the scene right away. To Bird, calling 911 isn’t enough. He argued that bystanders should have intervened the way his “angel” eventually did. “We need to be our brother’s keeper,” Bird said. “If there is a cry for help—whether it’s poverty or someone being attacked—we should help.” He attributed the bystanders’ inaction to the fact that “we’re a digital society. We’re not social unless it’s social media. We traded our safety and security for our liberties.” “Just like this device here,” he continued, pointing to his battered iPhone. “Somebody could be listening to all this right now, according to Edward Snowden. All these rules and and regulations don’t make you safe.” Part of the answer might lie in arming more citizens, Bird argued. He doesn’t own a gun, he said. But he plans to suggest to his neighborhood block watch that it obtain permits for some members to patrol the area armed. Meanwhile, he’d like to play the role of angel himself, in a more modest way than his own angel did last week. One afternoon not long before the Union Station incident, Bird said, he had come across teens who fled on bicycles when they saw him passing by Cafe Fuel on Chapel Street. In their wake he found a bicycle on the sidewalk with its lock clipped off, next to a rack. He asked a Cafe Fuel employee if she knew whose bike it was; she didn’t. So he has stored it in hopes of returning it to its owner. He shared this photo of it. If you know to whom it belongs, contact the Independent here and we’ll pass the info along to Bird.

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posted by: William Kurtz Is it possible to get a better photo of the bike? It might also be helpful to send it around to the local bike shops; they typically maintain lists of stolen bikes that they know about. And if it was purchased locally, the shop might able to look up the serial number. Also—those cable locks like the one lying on the ground are all but useless, people. If you want to keep a bicycle, invest in something more durable like a good quality U-lock or a hardened chain.

posted by: Hill Resident on November 21, 2014 3:23pm I am truly sorry for the harm that was caused this man. Although he is in no way responsible for the actions of his attacker, I too often see people walking around talking or texting impervious to their surroundings, and the fact of the matter is that these are dangerous times, there are dangerous neighborhoods, and there are dangerous people so we MUST be careful and cautious to do everything within our own power to not put ourselves at risk. I do wish that those who witnessed had done something to help him ... call 911, take pictures, yell for help ... something. I hope that those who hurt him are caught and prosecuted and that lessons are learned by ALL. And thank you to the Angel!

posted by: Marion on November 21, 2014 3:33pm The only issue I have with an otherwise well written story is the suggestion that somehow the owners of the housing complex are somehow partly responsible for the behavior of these thugs or the crimes that is rampant there. That seemed a big disconnect.

posted by: TheMadcap on November 21, 2014 3:57pm On one hand, every time people are clamoring for the destruction of Church St south, I note a usual lack of concern on what happens to the people who call that place home. On the other hand, every time I read something like this since CSS is right across from he train station, it makes me want to say “Knock it all down, leave not one stone standing. Salt the Earth after we’re done”

posted by: darnell on November 21, 2014 5:32pm I understand his anger and desire not to have something he worked hard to obtain snatched out of hands, but was it worth risking his life for? Or the life of the guy who came to his rescue? I’d rather life protecting something more valuable, like maybe my family or something. If a group of young thugs comes up to me and demands my phone, they can have it. I’ll live another day to buy another one.

posted by: JustAnotherTaxPayer on November 21, 2014 6:41pm The victim and the man who came to his aid did nothing wrong. And anyone who has not found themselves in the midst of such an attack, would feel free to critique any and all actions that they decided to take. Even if more force was used to defend themselves, it would have been justified, ethically, morally, and most importantly, legally. The individuals that attacked bird are a special brand of criminal. They are called “Predators”. They have no concern for the person they attack. And it is the physical attack which is the primary focus of the event. It is an exercise in power and control of another person. Also a full blown exercise in neighborhood intimidation. This means more power, through intimidation, caused by the this display of object violence. The phone was incidental, but it was far more valuable to the owner than the thugs. The Predators never go backwards. They continue on, increasing their activity, and violence, until they are incarcerated for long periods of time. studies of these types of criminals prove this out. Highest Praise to the “angel”, and hopefully the cops on the bear there will embrace him, get his cell phone number, stop by and hang out with him, as he is one of the “Good People” who passed us everyday, that we all would love to spend some time with.

posted by: Mikelive on November 21, 2014 6:46pm Its hard to believe that the police questioned his decision to walk across the street to the convenience store, its in plain view of the train station and next door to the POLICE STATION! Darnell- I guarantee this guy sleeps better at night after defending himself. If everyone laid down and played dead the criminals would take over this town and I believe you know it.

posted by: FacChec on November 21, 2014 6:59pm The morel of the story: “No One Called 911” But fortunately someone did step up to intervene..

A man appeared. He had happened to be across the street at the train station. When the screams eventually reached his ears, he ran over.

“You ain’t no cop!” one of the teens yelled. “What?” the man responded in a tone of challenge. “You come across this street again, nigger, we’ll kill you!” the teens taunted. The man, like the teens, is black; Bird is white. ““You’re My Angel” “A Brother’s Keeper” ““If there is a cry for help—whether it’s poverty or someone being attacked—we should help.” Priceless! Good story line Paul.

posted by: Edward Francis on November 21, 2014 7:26pm It looks like young Mr. Bird is no easy target and it seems one of the young wise guy thugs is going to be apprehended. The thugs are on their way to be very dangerous when they expand their evil tactics. At some point they will be caught and perhaps their next victim may have a weapon and use it in self defense. Throw us the phone!” they yelled. And: “Finish him off! Finish it! Finish it!” Did they mean Kill him?

posted by: connecticutcontrarian on November 21, 2014 7:29pm Isn’t it ironic that “the worst projects in town” are located mere steps from police headquarters?? Talk about the need for community policing

posted by: jimjoebob on November 21, 2014 10:04pm I admire the heck out of this guy. Not just for fighting back—which is a very situational choice that not everyone can or should make—but for being a teacher, a philanthropist, and also having a could of very insightful and quotable things to say at the end of the article.

posted by: BirdMan on November 22, 2014 2:38am Dear Brother Paul Bass, I really like the article great job….I relived the experience just now sweaty palms and legs shaking et al…..... A couple of notes and on exception and mis-quote.. I was not going to get a “coffee” you did not quote me correctly at all in that remark. And I typically stick to drinking herbal teas and chia at times…that is not to say I have never had coffee in my life of course. But was searching for hot chocolate that day as we discussed us sitting at B-Natural you had coffee and I had a Chia Tea as I prefer the Herbal Teas:) Thank you in advance for correcting this as I never said coffee I said I was feeling “hot chocolate weather” with the change in weather in the air and yadda yadda

...

Thanks and grateful overall excellent capture…sorry.

Further I give no credit to myself for entire time delivering the Bread to the Green Sunday Mornings for LDS Feed the Need. I was merely blessed with the association of another Good Angel who helped facilitate the situation to help what we could do within our sphere of influence. Thus again grateful for the article and for The Good of this One Angel!!

the redaction/correction I would appreciate:) And for the comments, thank you I appreciate all opines have value. If and when they do find this youth. I would be glad to drop all charges if he is looking for work, I would rather lift him up than push him further down as there is obviously incorrect principles taught this young man. As we need to teach correct principles so we can govern ourselves rather than be governed. So we can participate in life not type it away. As I strive to be My Brothers Keeper that is the only way we can improve society other than good wholesome families doing more good. But I can not force anyones will or decision to accept my invitation. I need to be better, and I need to be my Human Brothers Keeper. All the best,

Bret [Paul: Thank you! Correction made.]

posted by: robn on November 22, 2014 8:40am Before we get all judgie on the onlookers, remember that not too long ago, Satchel Ramos gave his life being a Good Samaritan. I did that once and got a bottle broken over my head. I’d probably do it again but I’m not going to judge other people for not being as foolish as I am.

posted by: Mary Brown on November 22, 2014 9:57pm There may be some serious challenges for residents who live in Church Street South but one must be careful how you describe a place that people call home. There are nice people who live there and they don’t all contribute to the crimes that happen there. I don’t think anyone wants to hear their home described as the “worst projects in town.”

posted by: Birder on November 22, 2014 10:53pm Brother Bird, I am so sorry to hear of your experience. I admire the fact that you stood up to these entitled boys. Apparently, the good people of New Haven think we should just work our buns off for coppers and then hand over vital products to the nearest miscreant so they can augment their welfare funds. I can see why we can see eye to eye on so many things my brother. We must do lunch again this week. Seal it at 84 Trumbull Street, tomorrow at 9:15 a.m. as we thank the LORD for our deliverance. God is GOOD Bret. Take care.

posted by: meta on November 24, 2014 10:42am That complex needs to be torn down and redeveloped into a mixed use, walk-able area. It is a dead end. Reconnect streets and sidewalks and the backwater of violent crime will subside. Help the folks that live there find housing in a less concentrated way, mixing income levels for more equitable and neighborly living in a good and decent city. As the gateway to New Haven, Union Station should have much friendlier neighbors. I’d love to live in the area if it was safe and beautiful.

posted by: JohnTulin on November 24, 2014 12:38pm ....and its the first thing visitors see when they get off the train. Want a suggestion on how to improve NH’s image - tear this place down. Of course, that only works on the image not the problem, but its a start.

posted by: New Haven Urbanism The Church Street South Housing Complex presents a complicated issue. Originally, the complex was supposed to be mixed-income with a variety of moderate and low-income housing units. Ultimately, it was built as entirely low-income housing. Additionally, there was supposed to be another 100 units built on the lot where the Greek orthodox church currently sits. This additional 100 units of housing may have helped support additional services and retail in the complex’s main square. The complex has a variety of open spaces, offers some private space on balconies, and units are large - there are many 4 and 5 bedroom units. The buildings themselves are a bit bare - concrete block construction, but the overall site design is interesting and could work quite well with some small changes. Ideally, I’d like to see Church Street South improved with some small changes, rather than redeveloped entirely. 1) Courtyards could be gated off with access only granted to residents. This would improve safety and discourage outsiders from coming in to the complex to sell or buy drugs. 2) Some of the units could be converted to market rate units by demolishing some interior walls to turn 4 and 5 bedroom units into very large 2 or 3 bedroom units. 3) Flat roofs could be turned into roof decks or pitched roofs could be added to improve drainage (like McConaughey Terrace in West Rock). 4) Columbus Avenue could be reopened to improve circulation in the district. 5) Some buildings could be surgically demolished to add a new street through the center of the complex leading from Tower One to the train station. Some new construction could occur along Union Avenue and the Greek Orthodox lot to add retail and office space. 6) A new cladding could be added to the exterior of the concrete block walls (perhaps brick?) The complex could be reborn as a mixed-income, mixed-use community without demolishing the entire development, which was designed by Charles Moore.

posted by: N'Zinga Shani The reported response by the police who interviewed Mr. Bird is most informative. Also, take note of Mr. Bird’s reported past contributions to those in need at Farnum Court.

“What were you doing there?” one city officer asked Bird. “Those are the worst projects in town.”

Another officer disagreed. He selected Farnam Courts off Grand Avenue.

As a society we still have miles to go to be equitable. Thank GOD for that one citizen with the courage to step in and help, and thank God that Mr. Bird is alive and was able to keep his phone.

There needs to be more real consequences for punks who prey on working people. Beating up someone to steal his iPhone is about GREED and a lack of values; it is not about poverty. There are millions of poor people of every color and ethnicity who don’t attack others to steal what they have.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on November 25, 2014 12:29am posted by: N’Zinga Shani on November 24, 2014 4:18pm There needs to be more real consequences for punks who prey on working people. Beating up someone to steal his iPhone is about GREED and a lack of values; it is not about poverty. There are millions of poor people of every color and ethnicity who don’t attack others to steal what they have. Poverty breeds crime,both violent crime and property offenses.Impoverished people often get desperate.Also poverty has consequences. One of such consequences is that poverty creates social vices such as armed robbery, stealing,drug peddling.This is because every human being wants to get the best out of life,and when such basic necessities of life are hard to come by,The natural tendency is to engage in illicit activities to make ends meet.As one person said,How about poverty induces corruption in the sense that people who indulge in corrupt practices,at both the private and official levels,To shield themselves from poverty.Political and bureaucratic corruption thrive in our society today because of the need to secure one’s life and that of one’s immediate and,in some cases,extended family,against poverty.Look at Public-office-holders who cash-in on these weaknesses and loot as much as they can from the people and most of the time do not go to jail.

posted by: William Kurtz Threefifths: Poverty breeds crime,both violent crime and property offenses.Impoverished people often get desperate.Also poverty has consequences. One of such consequences is that poverty creates social vices such as armed robbery, stealing,drug peddling.This is because every human being wants to get the best out of life,and when such basic necessities of life are hard to come by,The natural tendency is to engage in illicit activities to make ends meet.As one person said,How about poverty induces corruption in the sense that people who indulge in corrupt practices,at both the private and official levels,To shield themselves from poverty.Political and bureaucratic corruption thrive in our society today because of the need to secure one’s life and that of one’s immediate and,in some cases,extended family,against poverty.Look at Public-office-holders who cash-in on these weaknesses and loot as much as they can from the people and most of the time do not go to jail. Yes, exactly. Although no individual act of violence is justified by poverty, the problem of violent crime is often, in part, understood by looking at poverty and systemic economic and political inequality.

posted by: Hill Resident on November 26, 2014 11:05am Poverty does not breed crime. Not everyone who comes from an impoverished background becomes a criminal. It is a choice to do wrong. It is a choice to take something that does not belong to you. Poverty can contribute to performing desperate acts but we choose what we do ... how we respond. Some single parents chose to live in a one room apartment with their child rather than be broke trying to rent a 2 bedroom apartment. Some shop at thrift or consignment stores rather that run up credit cards buying ‘labels. Some people actually do not own a cell phone rather than steal someone elses. Some people are even so desperate to have a better life that they work 2-3 jobs so they can go to community college and learn a marketable trade thus improving their employability .... GO FIGURE!!! Some go without rather than take something belonging to someone else. One must be taught/trained to make positive decisions and to have character developed. Some have never been provided that teaching or have chosen to ignore it because they were allowed to by those responsible for them in their early development. If left unchecked, the innate perverse spirit of man will reveal itself in the selfish and heinous acts we see today. Then the choice is societies what we will do to and with them. And don’t blame society of which I am a part ... I didn’t do it ... I didn’t ignore them. I contributed where I was/am able. Somewhere someone dropped the ball. But the choice still belonged to that individual whether he/she would pick up his/her own ball or steal one that belonged to someone else. But that’s just my opinion based on my life.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on November 26, 2014 1:43pm posted by: William Kurtz on November 26, 2014 7:24am Yes, exactly. Although no individual act of violence is justified by poverty, the problem of violent crime is often, in part, understood by looking at poverty and systemic economic and political inequality. I agree.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on November 26, 2014 1:54pm posted by: Hill Resident on November 26, 2014 10:05am Poverty does not breed crime. Not everyone who comes from an impoverished background becomes a criminal. It is a choice to do wrong. It is a choice to take something that does not belong to you. Poverty can contribute to performing desperate acts but we choose what we do ... how we respond. Poverty can contribute to performing desperate acts.In fact Studies show that people resort to crime only if they determine that potential benefits outweigh the cost or consequences of committing that. Therefore, people living in poverty are more likely to commit burglary, larceny or theft.Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy” by Robert J. Sampson, Stephen W. Raudenbush and Felton Earls, published in Science magazine in 1997, found that the ability of communities to obtain resources and public services correlates with the signs of disorder. For example, the fewer resources a community has to invest into their homes, the more likely it is to find vacant houses, vandalism and burned-out buildings—conditions that breed crime.

posted by: Hill Resident on November 26, 2014 3:56pm According to a 2012 report presented to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and published in the Business Insider; “The wealthy are more likely to lie, cheat, steal, and break the law, seven separate studies designed to weigh ethics concluded”. Street criminals stole $15.3 billion in 1993, but white collar-criminals embezzled $200 billion. Street criminals murdered 23,271 people that year, but the decisions of profit-driven corporations murdered at least 318,368 (through pollution, consumer and worker safety violations, etc.) Adam Lanza was not raised in poverty. Oscar Pistorius from a middle class background. Caroline Giuliani was caught in 2010 stealing several hundred dollars worth of make-up from an expensive make-up shop. Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan were both arrested for drug possession. You can find studies to support any kind of argument that you present. But to ‘blame it on society’ is allow individuals to be relieved of personal responsibility. People make good and bad decisions. Some have a distorted view of the weight or severity of the consequences of their decisions. Choosing to relieve someone of their personal property so you can possess it, without going thru the process that the original owner went thru to obtain that property - STEALING - is SELFISH!!!! And although you could probably find a study to link being selfish to poverty, it is more likely a result of having to a distorted sense of self worth which also can stem from a false sense of entitlement as a result of being given much without having to work for it (aka being rich). Having character and integrity is not dependent on your socioeconomic status. We are not defined by our circumstance.