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Dusk was settling in as Bela rode her bike home from work through Edgewood Park on Halloween night. A gunman hid in the shadows.
Bela, a 37-year-old post-doctoral researcher in psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine who moved to New Haven four years ago, was on her red and gold Trek FX7500 as she turned into the park at Chapel Street, her usual route, around 5:30 p.m. She rode downhill on the riding trail. (Bela is her nickname; she asked to have her legal name be withheld.)
Bela usually sees plenty of people in the park at that time of night. Thursday evening she didn’t.
She approached the Edgewood Avenue underpass.
“As I went under the underpass of the bridge for Edgewood Avenue, I saw somebody jumping out of the side. He was hiding. He was about six feet tall. He looked to be in his early or mid 20s,” Bela recalled Friday.
“As soon as I got under the underpass he ran straight at me. I was going at full speed. He grabbed my handlebars.”
She stayed on the bike. They started wrestling. Bela called for help. No one was nearby to hear.
“Just let go,” the attacker commanded. She held on.
Then he pulled out a gun. He pressed it to Bela’s chest.
“I don’t want to mess. Just give me the bike,” he commanded.
Bela got off the bike. The man fled up a service road toward Edgewood Avenue.
Bela’s book bag had fortunately fallen off her bike basket. The bag had her phone. She retrieved it and dialed 911, walking up toward Edgewood. She saw the attacker ride off on Edgewood toward downtown. She informed the 911 dispatcher.
Cops in three separate patrol cars promptly converged on the scene, as did bicycle cops. They took Bela’s statement. The cops were courteous, she said.
So far the police have no suspects, according to top Westville cop Sgt. Renee Forte. Anyone with information is asked to call the police at (203) 946‑6304.
Bela also asked Independent readers to keep an eye out for her bike. (It’s pictured at the top of this story.) She’d like to get it back. If you see it, please call the police number.
Forte said this is the first such attack on a biker or a jogger since a series of similar incidents that sent panic through neighbors and users of the park. Those incidents occurred about three months ago. Read about them here and here.
Bela didn’t commute by bike her first two years here. She worried about her safety. But then she decided “that’s not me.”
“I’m going to stay away from the park. I am scared and really shaken,” Bela said Friday. She does want to get another bike and continue commuting to work by wheels — on another route.