ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290020
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Beth Macy
SOURCE: BETH MACY
The 86-year-old woman knew the standard safety tips.
She knew, when driving her Oldsmobile Delta 88, to park amid a cluster of other cars. She knew, if approached by a mugger, to drop herself to the ground - to avoid being knocked down.
She knew to always lock her car. And she never drove at night.
``She is the most cautious person I've ever met,'' explains her stepdaughter, a Roanoke nurse. ``She prepares for every moment in her life.''
So you can imagine her terror when a strange man forced his way into her car in front of the S&S Cafeteria one afternoon last October and led her at gunpoint on an eight-hour journey of fear that ended in a wooded area of Amherst County - where she was left trembling, but safe.
Now four months later, Sgt. Al Brown says what every elderly person in town was too afraid to imagine: ``She's extremely lucky she wasn't raped or killed,'' the safety officer says. ``At 86, she's lucky she didn't have a heart attack.''
The incident was the lowest of lows in the category of pick-on-somebody-your-own-size. It caused a lot of Roanokers, both young and old, to re-evaluate their own geographic safety zones: If it can happen at Towers Mall, it can happen anywhere.
Among the elderly, ``The first reaction was that they could no longer go out in the town were they grew up and still feel comfortable,'' says Debbie Salisbury, who works at the Roanoker Restaurant, another mealtime haven for seniors.
``It's made them very aware that they are easy targets.''
The League of Older Americans has begun a series of safety programs for its clients, partly in response to the carjacking. Among the tips it offers for shoppers: Always travel with someone else; park in well-lighted areas; always lock your car; check the back seat before getting inside; have your keys in hand when leaving a store or restaurant.
``And above all, if you see a stranger and have a bad feeling, respect your intuition,'' says the LOA's Kevin McCullough. ``Go back into the store and ask for an escort.''
I think of the 86-year-old woman every time I drive through an automatic-teller machine at night; every time I drive through the intersection of Fifth Street and Elm Avenue in Old Southwest - the site of an unsuccessful carjacking attempt late last year.
The question isn't so much, should I activate the electronic door locks on my car? I know that's what you're supposed to do. But: To what degree do I want to live in fear?
One afternoon last summer, a limping man approached me while I was strapping my son into his car seat in a downtown parking lot. The man and his family had been living temporarily at the Trust shelter just four blocks away, he explained. He said his house in Botetourt County had recently burned down, that he had lost
everything he owned.
An hour before, he'd walked downtown to buy his wife a present, he said. But because of a Vietnam War leg injury that still bothered him, it hurt too much to walk the rest of the way back. Would I please give him a ride?
I said I was sorry, and declined.
He offered me money.
Again, I declined, apologizing.
Then he pulled a brown paper bag from his pants pocket. My heart raced as I watched him fish a wad of tissue paper out of the bag. Slowly he unwrapped the paper and placed a small white porcelain figurine in the palm of his hand, holding it up in front of me like a prize.
``See this tiny little deer?'' he said. ``Right now it's the only thing my wife has to her name.''
My mind still said no. But my heart prevailed.
I gave the man a ride.
After the longest one-minute car ride of my life, he got out of my car, thanked me and walked inside to his family.
What would you have done? My husband, my neighbor, my mom - everyone I've told this story to - has chewed me out, then made me promise never to do it again.
Would I? No. Probably not. It depends.
Sgt. Brown concedes there's a fine line between being cautious and being consumed with fear. He describes his 92-year-old mother, who walks up and down the street carrying a purse - ``even though I tell her not to.
``She told me, `The good Lord's gonna take care of me.' But I'm afraid some young kid will see her, knock her down for her purse and she'll break her hip. It would be all downhill from there, but she's too hard-headed to listen.''
Amanda Crabtree, the LOA's meals and transportation supervisor, hopes the carjacking isn't having a chilling effect on seniors. ``I don't mean that seniors should give up taking precautions, but we don't want the elderly to be even more scared and isolated than they already are.''
For the 86-year-old woman, it may already be too late. Around Christmas, she injured her back in a fall and had to move to a nursing home. She hasn't driven her car in months.
``This whole thing has taken the wind out of her sails,'' her stepdaughter says.
Two weeks ago, her 32-year-old carjacker entered a plea agreement and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He will serve 17 of those years before becoming eligible for parole.
The victim's reaction? Fear, then uncertainty, and finally relief, according to her stepdaughter.
``She said she's glad that by the time he gets out, she'll be out of this world.''
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