Randomness of Rape Serves as Warning

She loved her morning routine. Donning her gray sweats, she would briskly walk her retired greyhound racer along Fairview Regional Park, near her Costa Mesa neighborhood. And always, in the hour before dawn.

But not any more. Wednesday, she delayed their walk by half an hour, until the first flecks of daylight etched the sky; she altered her route by heading north of the park.

“I’ll have to change things,” she said, resentment in her voice.

That’s because of what happened Monday. A woman who enjoyed a similar daily routine was attacked before dawn while walking alone on the edge of Fairview Park. She was dragged into a clump of weeds and raped.

Costa Mesa police say the sexual assault was an isolated incident, that such crimes in that part of the city are rare.

But its rarity makes it even more alarming. That it was so random tells women in Orange County that it can happen almost anywhere.

The latest statistics show violent crime continues to decline here. That doesn’t lessen the need to take precautions.

Police in all cities send the same message to women: Never take your walk in the dark, and avoid walking alone. But if you do walk alone in the dark, be aware of your surroundings. Leave the headphones at home.

Daylight was almost complete when I caught up with the woman in the gray sweats Wednesday morning. Even so, she made me talk with her from 20 feet away, despite my holding my newspaper credentials in my hand. She declined to give her name.

“You can understand,” she said apologetically about these ground rules for conversation. “This has made us all nervous. I always took the exact same route as that other lady.”

So does Cindy Veach, a third-grade teacher at S.A. Moffett Elementary in Huntington Beach. I talked with her and fellow Moffett third-grade teacher Thursa Williams during their three-mile afternoon walk just a short distance from the Placentia Avenue spot where Monday’s rape occurred.

“But I never walk in the dark, and I always try to walk with someone,” Veach said. “We have a lot of walkers and joggers in our neighborhood. All of us are upset, and concerned, that this could happen here.”

All the more reason to be alert, said Suzie Wajda, crime prevention officer for the city of Huntington Beach:

“You can live in the safest city in America and be a victim if someone is lurking, waiting to attack. Don’t be oblivious to the real world.”

With all the dangers out there, it’s surprising to me that many women do walk or jog before daylight or at night.

But Thursa Williams said she’s often one of them.

“I might not any more,” she said. “This is scary.”

But then she added that it depends on where she’s walking.

Williams lives in Irvine, and walks regularly along its North Lake. Because of her teaching duties, she sometimes walks before dawn, and alone.

“I do feel safe there,” she said. “Lots of people are out at that hour; I just don’t think anybody would try anything there.”

But you could say the same about Fairview Park, too. Placentia Avenue gets lots of traffic at all hours. But no one saw the woman attacked.

It was pitch dark one night this week when I strolled over to the park next to where my family and I live in Anaheim, to see if anyone was walking alone. The park is encircled by a sidewalk popular with walkers and joggers. I found Xinhua Sun, who lives nearby. She told me she’s been walking there after dark for two years. The park sidewalk is well lighted in most places. She said she’s always felt safe.

I wondered if an attack could take place there, out of sight of other people. Then I realized we’d stopped to talk right by the seldom-used restrooms. Yes, an attack could happen here, right in my own backyard.

We’re a low-crime neighborhood. And a rape in that park would certainly be a random act. Just like the one in Fairview Park.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Monday and Thursday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling (714) 564-1049 or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com