Letter to the Editor:
This week we saw on the news that a 5 year old boy’s body was found dead in Panorama City by a dumpster and the person charged with his murder had been arrested not long ago for violent felonies but released. It was also reported this week that a married couple in Encino was murdered in their home, by a suspect charged in the crime who had also been arrested for serious crimes recently and released.
Last May 12th I was riding my bicycle in Burbank north across the I-134 freeway on Pass Ave. when I noticed a vagrant man in the middle of the street trying to kick cars as they drove past him. When the deranged man saw me going past him on my bike he began chasing after me and shouting “I’m going to kill you” at me. Fortunately I was able to peddle faster than the would be assailant could run and after about 50 feet he stopped chasing.
I called the Burbank Police dispatch line to report this dangerous man and shortly afterwards they arrived to arrest him. Vons Market had also just called the police to report that this man was threatening their customers in their store isle. I told the police I would be willing to testify at my attacker’s trial and was given a card with the arrest number on it and told I’d be contacted later.
Weeks later I phoned the Burbank Police Dept. to inquire as to when I might be called to court to testify but was informed that the Burbank City Attorney’s office had dropped the charges against my attacker and was released. I saw the man a week later passed out in front of the bank building across the parking lot from Vons. It won’t surprise me at all when I hear the news that this man attacked and hurt somebody in the future and wonder why our legal system doesn’t do a better job of protecting us.
Doug Weiskopf
Burbank
