Rape is not about sex but rather is an act of violence. It is a horrific crime that I believe should carry the death penalty. It some countries a death penalty is carried out. Rape destroys marriages, lives, and can inflict a lifetime of mental anguish and pain on the innocent victim.
I was living in Northeast Ohio when a twentysomething male attempted to rape a female convenience store clerk around 3:30 in the morning.
Here’s how everything went down.
It was our bowling team’s regular Thursday night for fun and a few beers. Since we worked the second shift in a factory, our league games began at midnight sharp. Our team consisted of four men and we always bowled 3 games against our opponents. We won all three games that night and I left the bowling alley at about 3:20 a.m. during a snowstorm.
I drove my Chevy Malibu towards my home and decided to stop at a convenience store to buy some milk and donuts for the next morning. When I entered the door I heard a woman screaming for help. As I quickly scanned the inside of the store, I saw a fiftyish male with a beard standing at the magazine rack, flipping through a magazine. He made no reaction to the scream. I found this suspicious but moved towards where I heard the female voice.
It came from the back of the store where supplies were kept and supplies were loaded from delivery trucks. I crept behind the counter and approached the open door, fully expecting a Hulk Hogan type of a man I’d have to confront.
At the time, I was an athletic 175 pounds and played semi-pro football so I was in pretty good shape and made a decision to take my chances against whoever was attacking the woman. I'm no hero, but I have morals that dictate that I do the next right thing.
A third scream of “Help!” came from the back. She also screamed, "Get off of me!"
I stood at the door and peeked around the door jamb, again expecting not only a large male, but one who might be armed with a knife or a gun. Instead, I saw the above-mentioned man attempting to pull the woman’s jeans down as she struggled to stop him.
Rather than charge him, I yelled, “Hey, get the hell off of her! Now!”
Startled, he stood up from the cement loading ramp where he had her pinned down. There was only one way out – through me.
The man charged me as I stood in the doorway. We were about the same weight and height, but as he was running and I was blocking the door, I knew he would run me over.
At the last second I pulled back from the door and stuck my foot out to trip him. It worked.
He fell into a candy rack, spilling M&M’s, various candy bars and Tic Tac’s all over the floor. As he attempted to stand up, I body slammed him into a potato chip rack and we wrestled for a few moments.
I heard the woman screaming again and thought there might be another man involved. It turns out she was just screaming from fear. It was when I had looked at her that the man escaped and ran out the door, pushing the glass doors open with both palms of his hands. The first thing I thought was, fingerprints!
I grabbed the phone on the counter and called 9-1-1 to report the crime. The police arrived 2 minutes later. I knew the cops, they knew me. This is because I owned a race car and a street hot rod and had run afoul of the law for speeding and a couple of fights.
“What did you do now, Scott?” Officer Jones asked, hand on his gun holster. His partner was scanning the store.
“Hey, Jones, I called you guys,” I replied.
The female clerk spoke up. “He stopped a man from raping me.” She continued to sob softly.
I wanted to comfort her but feared I might make it worse if I touched her. She zipped up her jeans, forgetting to have zipped them up after pulling her pants up in the back room.
“Do either of you know the guy? Can you describe him for us?”
“I’ve never seen him before,” the young clerk said through tears.
“I don’t know him personally, but I’ve seen him where I work.”
“You know where he lives by any chance?” asked the other cop.
“I do,” I affirmed.
“Let’s go. Ride with us and show us his place.”
We rode about 2 miles down the road. In the meantime, two other patrol cars came for backup. We pulled into the housing area and I asked the officer to slow down. Two cop cars had turned off their headlights. I pointed to the house a 100 feet away.
Officer Jones got on his police radio and had the other two patrol cars block off the road at the back of suspect's house. Then we pulled up and two cops got out and knocked on the door as I watched through a backseat window, rolled down enough so I could hear the police and the suspect’s conversation.
“Police! Open up the door!” No lights were on in the house and none came on. “Open up or we’ll kick the door in!”
Both officers pulled their guns. A light suddenly came on and the front door opened up. Out stepped the man I’d fought with at the store. The police immediately put the handcuffs on behind his back and placed him in the second patrol car next to the car where I was sitting. They took him straight to jail.
The next day I had to sign a witness statement at the police station. Two months later, the man who was out of jail on bail, went to court. Unfortunately, the woman did not want to be identified in the newspapers so the State of Ohio reduced the charges to simple assault. He was fined $100 and was freed.
I couldn't believe it!
On the way out of the courtroom the guy threatened me with violence. “If you come within 20 feet of me or my family, I’ll put a bullet in your head,” I advised.
He then threatened to sue me for breaking his hand and roughing him up. I wasn't worried about that.
Though I saw him a few times after it all, he never said a word to me. He became a pariah at work, nobody liked him.
Oh, and the man at the magazine rack? I found out later he was the uncle of the criminal. He was never charged.
