Get Out While You Still Have A Face

San Bernardino County, USA, is the largest County, by land acreage, in California. It’s located directly between Los Angeles County, California and Las Vegas, Nevada. Highland is a suburb of San Bernardino. Highland was close to school and the rent was cheap, other than that, I had no desire to be there. Like most suburbs, there’s one neighborhood that could be mistaken for Beverly Hills if you’re unfamiliar with the area. That’s not where I lived - I stayed on the north side, the side where crime is statistically worse (Click that link and scroll down) by a substantial margin in comparison to the rest of the United States.

But rent was cheap and it was close to school. A two bedroom apartment was $375/month and school was less than a mile away. (Studio apartment on the other side of town - 2k/month) Ideal conditions, right? not exactly! I witnessed a drive-by shooting one night - I was not prepared for that. That’s an image that is forever etched in my memory.

My balcony overlooked a 90 degree turn on a one-way street. There was only one way in and one way out of that neighborhood. I was outside on the balcony one night and just like something you’d see in a Hollywood movie: An older model vehicle (60’s-70’s) approached the 90 degree turn without any lights on. My first thought, as ghetto as this may seem, the person driving is drunk, they’re making an effort to avoid authorities. If that isn’t the case, then the car is probably just stolen. I wasn’t concerned about the car driving without lights. The old car made that right turn and within a couple of feet I saw the brake lights illuminate as it stopped in front of the corner house. I still thought nothing of it and that’s when at least two shotguns began unloading rounds at that house on the corner, from the passenger side of the vehicle. That was loud! At least 10 shotgun blasts went off and the car sped away. Sirens and helicopters were common after hearing gunshots in the neighborhood so nothing seemed out of the ordinary as they surrounded the house. That wasn’t enough to make me move though, not yet, I was still in favor of the cheap rent.

I didn’t move after my truck was broken into either. Back when we all had CD’s, remember those things? They broke into my truck and stole all of my CD’s - Two big books! The driver door was still open when I got to the truck as though they were interrupted before they had a chance to steal the whole stereo or worse. I still didn’t move. The apartment windows were fiberglass so they wouldn’t break anymore when the neighborhood kids threw rocks at them, at all hours. I still didn’t move. But when that guy tried to take my head off with that butcher knife, more than once, I decided it was time to go:

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”Get Out While You Still Have A Face”

I locked the deadbolt and turned to leave for the day when Ronny, the neighbor across the hall, stopped me. He was cool. He and his buddy were standing in the hallway, Ronny said “hey that guy that’s been breaking into everyone’s apartment is in the one below you right now!” I didn’t know what he was talking about, I asked him “I got the flyer from management about a security system but I thought it was just another scam, I didn’t know there’s actually a problem with break-ins?” Ronny pointed out several apartments around us that had recently been burglarized. I was none the wiser so I went downstairs to see if there was anyone inside the unit below me like they claimed. Just at that time a maintenance man walked passed us with a radio to Marcus; the security guard for the complex. Ronny and his buddy stopped the maintenance employee and called Marcus, meanwhile I grabbed the doorknob to the apartment below me, it was unlocked - I opened the door.

I stepped inside the apartment and at the end of the hallway is a man staring right at me, tall and big, wearing a hooded sweatshirt that’s covering his head, he’s holding two shopping bags, one in each hand. He ran toward the back of the apartment, I heard a window slide open and commotion as he jumped out. I guess I was being naive because I didn’t expect to find anyone in the unit below me, I think I only expected to find a misunderstanding. That wasn’t the case at all! By the time my mind registered that I had just disrupted a robbery in progress, I exited the apartment. As I was explaining to Ronny, his buddy and now the maintenance man what I just walked in on, Marcus came running over. Marcus is cool! He’s a thug, a gangster from Gary, Indiana USA, he and I got along real well and he was the best security guard in the world that day! Anyhow, I explained what I just walked in on. Marcus walked through the apartment and quickly came running back. His eyes were wide open, “he’s coming this way right now!” Marcus saw the man walking toward us from the back bedroom window of the apartment.

A man walked around the corner holding two plastic shopping bags, one in each hand, each bag full of various electronics. He’s wearing a hooded sweatshirt and he’s a big man. Not big as in the steroid using type, but all of 6 foot 3 and 300 pounds, a defensive lineman in the NFL type. He stopped and we surrounded him, Marcus is saying “drop the bags! Drop the bags!” The man glanced at the tall block wall surrounding the property, he must have realized it was too tall to hop over, (I still wonder if possibly he had a get away driver on the other side of that wall. Why else would he come back to where he was spotted?) he dropped the bags and took off in a sprint around the backside of the complex:

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Those of you who have been following me know running isn’t something I’m commonly known for. The four of them chased the man around the backside of the complex and I figured since the complex is so large, 1,000 units or so, I’d jog my way toward the center of the complex and try to cut him off. Well... it worked! He turned a corner and is now running directly toward me with Marcus and the other three guys chasing him. As he came at me, I said: “I will take you down!” (I don’t know wth I was thinking!) That’s when he lifted up his sweatshirt, and from his belt line, he pulled out a chef knife like the one we all have in our kitchen - the biggest, shiniest knife in the set!

I froze - He swung the knife at my face. I heard the knife whistle as it sliced through the air and I felt the wind against my mouth from the force of his swing. Somehow I avoided that first swing and immediately I was met with a second swing, and then a third. I can’t explain how but I avoided that knife all of those times. Enter: Marcus - Marcus now has a hammer in his hand which must have originally belonged to the maintenance man. Marcus swung the hammer and hit that guy right on the back of his head:

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He dropped to one knee, still gripping the knife, he braced himself against the sidewalk. Marcus is yelling at him: “Stay down! The cops are coming! Stay down!” The other three guys are surrounding him again - Marcus is yelling at him. I think I was in shock at this point. The man with the knife was probably a combination of things: Exhausted from the sprint - Recovering from the hammer he just took to the back of his head - In shock. He got back on his feet while violently swinging the knife through the air and took off running again toward the front of the complex. The four of them continued chasing him - I followed at my pace.

By the time he got to the mailboxes, a little more than half way from the exit to the street, he was exhausted again. He stopped running and squared off with Marcus. He swung the knife at him several times. Marcus avoided the knife and returned fire with a swing of the hammer. Marcus connected - He hit that guy right in his face! He didn’t go down. He took a couple more swings at Marcus, again Marcus avoided each swing and returned fire. That man wielding the knife took the force of a swinging hammer to his head for a third time at that moment and still didn’t collapse. He somehow had enough strength to continue running, heading toward the exit of the complex.

I watched all four of them continue their pursuit as they ran around the pool and made it all the way to the visitor parking lot. Had he made it across the parking lot, he would have been able to cross the city street and been out of the complex. As he made a run across the parking lot, however, a pair of police cruisers came tearing into the lot: “Freeze! Drop the knife! Get on the ground!” He stopped running and complied. In just a few minutes the police had him in the back of their squad car, handcuffed, now they’re taking statements from each of us:

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The radio inside the police car echoed something about “be advised” and the dispatcher on the other end was communicating, via PA, to the arresting officer. He picked up the radio and continued the conversation inside the car. Moments later the officer came back and told us all a little bit about the guy they had in the back seat.

He had just been released from Chino Prison earlier that week after serving a 15 year sentence for murder - His second strike. The murder happened in prison, he killed another inmate while serving his first conviction, attempted murder on his wife at the time and their unborn child - His first strike. He went to prison with a third strike that day. I guess that’s what swinging a knife at someone while on parole will get you - Strike number three.

That man wasn’t just trying to scare me that day, he wasn’t merely trying to avoid being detained either, he was actually trying to kill me. At the very least, he intended to cut my face wide open. Yeah, that was enough for me! I loaded up my earthly belongings shortly after that and found another place to sleep. I can’t say I haven’t had a vehicle broken into since then because I have. I’ve actually had a vehicle stolen from me since then, the whole thing! But I’ve never witnessed another drive-by shooting since then and thank God that’s the only time I felt the wind of a knife cut through the air in front of my face.

I’m not comfortable settling somewhere because it’s cheap anymore, been there-done that... It didn’t work out! I’m a lot better at minding my own business these days too, it requires practice. Those memories are so vivid, I was able to relive the moment just now by sharing this story. Now I’m curious about Marcus and Ronny, I wonder how they’re living these days? I hope the two of them and those of you reading this right now are having the best day ever, only to be topped by tomorrow. Happy Monday ya’all!

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