Macro-Aggression.....The REAL THING!
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2016 8:35 pm
http://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/articl ... er-premium
The nation’s oldest park ranger was beaten in her Richmond home by a man who broke in and robbed her of a special commemorative coin given to her by President Barack Obama, who sent word to her boss Thursday that he will replace the prize keepsake.
Betty Reid Soskin, a 94-year-old U.S. park ranger, was attacked just after midnight on Monday when she woke up in her apartment in Richmond’s Hilltop area and found the stranger in her bedroom, police said.
"I fully expected he was going to kill me. He doubled up his fist and hit me a couple of times on the sides of my face with all his might," Soskin told KTVU.
U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell informed Obama of the shocking crime, and the president sent word back that he will send Soskin another commemorative coin bearing the presidential seal, said Tom Leatherman, superintendent of the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond where Soskin works.
“It’s pretty disturbing,” Leatherman said of the attack on Soskin. “It’s been pretty emotional for all of us who work with Betty.”
Betty Reid Soskin, who is the nation's oldest full time park ranger, holds her United States National Park Service ranger hat in her home on Tuesday, October 15, 2013 in Richmond Calif. Soskin has been furloughed since October 1, 2013.
Federal shutdown puts Betty Reid Soskin on hold
National Park Service Ranger Betty Reid Soskin remembers the fateful day 65 years ago when munitions blew up at Port Chicago in Concord killing 320 people. Soskin visits the Port Chicago Naval Magazine Memorial now located inside The Military Ocean Terminal Concord Army base in Concord. Nov 10, 2009.
Ranger's voice spans East Bay history
The prowler POS entered Soskin’s second-floor apartment through a sliding glass door and made his way into her bedroom, waking her up. She immediately tried to call police on her cell phone, but the man snatched it from her hand, hit her several times and started dragging her through the hallway.
"I was terrified. I was terrified. Nothing else I could think of was to scream and scream and scream," Soskin said.
She eventually managed to get away from the man long enough to lock herself inside of her bathroom.
Meanwhile, the robber ransacked her house for goods to steal.
In all, the man was able to escape with Soskin’s iPad, laptop and cell phone. He also took several commemorative coins, including the special one given to Soskin by Obama.
The assailant remains on the loose.
Soskin has received national recognition for being the oldest living park ranger in the country, currently working five days a week as a tour guide at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical.
She first met Obama in 2009, when she attended his inauguration. She returned to Washington in December and introduced the president at the national Christmas tree lighting ceremony, where he slipped the coin in her hand and gave her a hug.
Leatherman was one of the first people Soskin contacted following the attack. He said he has visited her multiple times this week to check on her.
“She’s got some bruises. She doesn’t really want to see people because she doesn’t really want people to see her like that,” Leatherman said.
He said paramedics treated Soskin at her home and she refused to go to the hospital.
“She’s doing fine, physically,” Leatherman said. “But emotionally, it’s difficult.”
Richmond Police Department officials ask anyone with information to call detectives at (510) 620-1755.
Kevin Schultz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kschultz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kevinedschultz
