With the holiday season now upon us, we urge our readers to remember to be aware of your surroundings as you race from a holiday party to planning for friends and family visiting to just coming back with your Christmas shopping. This piece of advice is all the more relevant with the recent assault that happened on Austin Street at 10:30 p.m. Saturday night.
The police are in active pursuit of the attacker in this incident, but, in the meantime, a few simple precautions can make all the difference in not making this holiday season or any time of year tragic.
* Always be aware of your surroundings, especially at night. Remain in well lit and populated places.
* Do not become distracted by talking on a cell phone or texting.
* Avoid walking alone late at night.
* Carry a cell phone.
* Yelling “fire”, “rape” or “help” are ways of drawing attention and alerting other people who might be able to help.
* Hold your car keys in your hand as a weapon.
As any victim of a mugging can tell you, somehow what is only a matter of a minute seems for the victim to be an eternity. As aggravating as it is to give up your wallet or purse to try to struggle would be unwise, and could result in far greater injury than having to cancel some credit cards.