Hey Jessica!

A harrowing and enlightening experience I have to wonder if you might discuss with the editors of The Star their campaign to vilify the police especially their position on racial profiling.

How Toronto the Good turned vicious one night
FIRST PERSON | She and a friend took the shortcut home. Jessica Hume learned some very bitter lessons
May 20, 2007
Jessica Hume

Maybe it's because I was born and raised in the heart of Toronto the Good, but dark alleys, empty schoolyards and parks have never been places I've avoided – day or night.

So last Friday night when my male friend and I left the bar, even though it was dark and getting close to 3 a.m., we decided to take the shortcut home, the one that goes through the track field beside Eastern Commerce Collegiate, south through Phin Avenue Parkette and across an unlit alleyway heading west toward Riverdale.

It wasn't long after we'd entered the schoolyard when I heard shuffling behind us. I turned around and saw three stocky men walking toward us, each wearing a black sweatshirt, hood up.

I kept walking, but within seconds my friend and I were surrounded by them; one came up from behind while the others swarmed us on either side.

Unsure of how serious this would get, I did a quick scan of the field to see if anyone was around. Not a soul.

"Yo, you got cigarettes? How much money you got?" They circled around us like a pack of wolves, pushing and grabbing, looking for something to take. "What else you got? Give me everything you have!"

The most aggressive of the three wore a white and black bandana across his face. In the dark he looked mean and sounded angry. He came up to me and asked what was in my bag, trying to grab it. Determined not to part with anything, I didn't let go. Another attacker yanked my friend's bike key from his pocket and then repeatedly asked where the car was, not convinced it was a bike key. These young men were not smart; they were stupid and angry, a dangerous combination.

Yo.......