ASSAULTED on Prospect PL.

Last night I was heading home to 551 Prospect Pl., after a Passover Seder. It was around 2 am and I had just walked from the Franklin Avenue 2/3. I took a left onto Prospect and was walking on the North side of the street. I passed by a group of 6 to 8 guys sitting on a stoop, before walking under the Shuttle overpass.

I then heard a guy running up behind me, on my right side. I was of course nervous and kept walking at a steady pace. He approached me from the right, still sort of jogging and asked me if I had the time...I said "no." He then asked if I had a cigarette...I said "no" again and continued walking. He seemed to back off a little. But, then I heard him approaching quickly from behind. I glanced to my right just in time to see the blur of his full-swing, as he struck me with his right fist in my right temple.

I hit the ground hard. I got up quickly and the guy seemed to have already backed off. He didn't move in and hit me again, while I was down or try to rob me. I didn't want to take any chances, so after getting up, I ran over to my building. I was shocked that I had been hit and hadn't realized that my glasses had been knocked off.

The guy who hit me was dressed in a black bomber jacket and baggy light-blue jeans. I believe he had on white sneakers. He was of medium build and medium height, probably 5'7" to 5'10." He had dark hair that was short; buzzed, but not shaven. His skin tone was a medium shade, so his race was somewhat ambiguous. I would guess that he was Hispanic or half White/half African American.

I called the police when I returned to my apartment. They arrived about ten minutes later and we drove around the neighborhood in the squad car, looking for the guy. We had no luck finding him and the officers advised against filing a report, so I didn't. They were courteous and professional and dropped me back at my apartment, when we'd finished looking around.

I wasn't badly hurt by the assault. I've got a minor black eye, a scraped knee and elbow, and a pair of broken glasses. What concerns me now is the damage done to my level of comfort and security in my neighborhood. I've now lived here over a year and although I've had some tense moments in the past, I have never been directly confronted with violence.

Sometime last year, one of my roomates was threatened with a steak knife to his back, as he approached our front door. In that case the guy was just looking for money. Since I wasn't robbed in this recent incident, I assume this guy just wanted to hit me and have a laugh about it with his friends. I don't understand what prompts this sort of unchecked aggression. I'm a pretty unobtrusive and peaceful guy and it angers me to be the target of this random act of violence.

I'm concerned for the safety of my neighbors and I hope this account stands as warning for everyone to be on gaurd. Sadly, we cannot trust the people around us to have value and respect for their fellow man/woman. Please be careful and please speak up when you see suspicious things going on around you. Thanks.