Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 11, 1993 TAG: 9305110370
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ed Shamy
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Seems a few of Antwon's bicycles had been stolen, leaving him - on his 11th birthday - with no wheels.
Roanoke police officer Frank Garrett caught wind of it because Garrett is the DARE officer at Wasena Elementary School, where Antwon is a third-grader.
The Fraternal Order of Police gave Antwon a new bike for his birthday.
It was a warm tale for a cold day, and it made for a nice day for Antwon and some cherished good public relations for the Roanoke Police Department.
Antwon, a shy boy who doesn't use his winning smile as often as he should, made good use of that bicycle - until last week.
Antwon, who lives on 12th Street in Northwest Roanoke, had been playing with a friend Thursday. As the daylight waned, he rode his bike to take his friend home to Madison Avenue.
Antwon was returning home, riding near the intersection of 10th Street and Orange Avenue, when a car drove up fast behind him and hit him.
Antwon flew from the bike and landed on his face and his left side in the street.
He tried to get up, but fell back.
The driver of the car yelled something at him and drove off.
All Antwon can remember is that it was a big, old, green car; and there were two men in it.
"Men," is a subjective term. Anybody who plows a car into a little kid on a bike and then drives away is no man. Male, maybe. Man? No. Human? Only in biological terms.
Antwon limped two and a half blocks to his home.
He spent Thursday night in Community Hospital.
His ribs and ankle are sore. He's had an upset stomach and he may have a bruised kidney.
Antwon went back to the hospital on Monday. He'll go back again on Wednesday for tests.
He hasn't been to school since the accident.
"It's just spooky," says Juanita Paige, Antwon's mom, "that there are people like that out there. Don't they have a conscience?"
It's an easy question to answer, but a difficult answer to stomach.
Antwon will miss a few more days of school, but he's up and around and he'll heal.
But he still can't make much sense of what happened to him. He says he was riding on the side of the road, where he belonged. He says some people laughed loudly out their open car windows at the little boy who kept trying to walk but kept falling down.
What will Antwon make of that?
What will Antwon make of the "men" who drove away?
What will Antwon think every time he sees that almost-new bike that the police gave him, sitting now with a mangled front end inside his house?
What's an 11-year-old to think?
Antwon, this one's for you: Most of us are good people, and we root for you every day at school and we pray for you to play safely every day of your life.
But some people are worms, Antwon. We're sorry you met them so early on.
by CNB