Attack report for Ballona Creek bike path Report from Don Hayashi published on the BikePaths Yahoo group.
FYI A teenager tried to punch me off my bike on Friday 12/4/09 about 2 pm. He was walking West bound on the Ballona Creek bike path when I approached him East bound on the bridge where Centinella Creek meets Ballona. Since he was in my lane I started to go to my left to pass him when he yelled something lunged at me and took a swing at my head. I was able to swerve and duck out of the way. I stopped a safe distance away and tried to figure out what the hell had just happened. He stopped and motioned me to come over. When he started to walk away I called LAPD. As far as I can tell he was trying to mug me.
One thing I found out: *LAPD is totally dependent on street addresses or cross streets to dispatch cars. The fact that I was on the bike path made me invisible to the computer system. They dispatched a car to a cross street that was no where near where the attack took place.
That bridge is the same place where two kids tried to mug me several years ago. It is also the place where a guy got shot about two years ago.I still think it is safer to ride that bike path than the streets. I'm including a link for a map of the location.
Be careful out there.
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*highlights the needs for agencies like Park Rangers who are intimately knowledgeable about locations within their patrol areas and who do not need physical addresses but use landmarks to respond to a call.
