Posted on 06/29/2005 9:04:57 PM PDT by SmithL
BERKELEY - Mike Tepper rode along Telegraph Avenue, past the spot where he nearly was killed early Sunday morning.
He noticed that blood stains remained on the street along with the skid marks made by the Chrysler used to run him over.
Those were sobering reminders of a harrowing incident that left Tepper, a freshman offensive tackle for Cal's football team, with a broken fibula, severe ligament damage and a dislocated tibia in his right leg.
The injuries seemed minor considering that Tepper had been run over twice. Berkeley police arrested Berkeley's John Ray Smith and Oakland's Calvin Kelly and charged them with assault with a deadly weapon, leaving the scene of an accident and resisting arrest.
Tepper and a friend, Cal senior volleyball player Camille Leffall, were crossing Telegraph at Dwight Way about 1:15 a.m. when a Chrysler pulled alongside them. "The driver said, 'Hey, babe, what are you doing?' to Camille," said Tepper, who is 6-foot-6, 330 pounds. "She said she wasn't interested. We kept walking, but we only got about five feet when the car pulled up alongside us into the crosswalk. They kept hitting on her so I stepped in front and said, 'Hey, we're going to meet some friends. Can we just get by?' "
According to Tepper and police reports, as Tepper and Leffall tried to cross behind the car, the vehicle shifted into reverse and headed toward them. "I saw the driver had his hand on the steering column and I thought that this guy was going to punch it," Tepper said. "So I hit Camille across the chest and threw her."
Although Tepper managed to toss Leffall out of the direct path of the car, the front, passenger side of the vehicle blasted into them both. The severity of the impact was lessened for Leffall because Tepper already had sent her sprawling backward.
"We both got hit, but Mike got run over," said Leffall, who suffered cuts and scrapes and an injured back. "It's a good thing he pushed me out of the way, because my body couldn't have handled (being run over). I probably would have had my foot amputated.
"It was really nice of him. He was trying to protect me."
Tepper wasn't so fortunate. "The car hit me, and I hit the ground, and the tire ran over my leg," Tepper said. "I looked back to my right, and the guy puts it in drive and runs over me again."
Again, Tepper's right leg was crushed under the tire before the vehicle drove off.
Fortunately for Tepper, Berkeley Lt. Arnold Lui was a block away in an unmarked police car. He called to get Tepper assistance and took off after the Chrysler.
Lui said the driver of the Chrysler turned off his lights, but after several blocks hit another vehicle. The driver and passengers ran from the vehicle, but Berkeley police managed to apprehend four of them. Lui said he wasn't sure how many people were in the car. Leffall said there were five. Only Kelly and Smith face charges at this time.
Although Tepper won't be able to play football in 2005 because of his injuries and subsequent surgery, he said a quick response by Berkeley police saved his life. "It seemed like only about 10 seconds before two cop cars were there," said Tepper, who was recuperating at his apartment in Berkeley on Wednesday. "I was in shock, and Camille was crying. I looked at my hand, and the blood was like wet paint dripping off. Camille was saying, 'I'm so sorry.' I was telling her, 'You didn't run over me.'
"From what the police told me, the guys who ran me over were not drinking, not on drugs. They were sober. What kind of people would do something like that?"
Tepper was transported by ambulance to Alta Bates Hospital. "The police had put tourniquets around my calf, and when the ambulance got there, a nurse was pumping morphine into me. They all did an amazing job ... they saved my life. It took doctors at the hospital about an hour to stop the bleeding because it had ripped a blood vessel that leads directly to my heart."
On Tuesday morning, Tepper had surgery. "They put a plate and nine screws into me," Tepper said. "I can't put any pressure on my right leg for eight weeks. Then they will take out the screws and plate. In November, I should be able to begin jogging. It will be 2006 before I can start running again."
Leffall still is suffering from back pain and emotional trauma. "I have to walk past that intersection to go to school, and it is really, really tough," she said. "I don't think they found all the guys who were in the car, so I am constantly watching my back. This has overwhelmed me ... the emotions you have. We are getting hit by cars driven by crazed maniacs. It takes away your sense of security."
Tepper's father, Gus Tepper of Cypress, said he will keep checking with the Alameda County District Attorney's office to make sure Kelly and Smith are prosecuted. Court dates for the two have yet to be scheduled.
Although "outraged" by the incident, Gus Tepper said he isn't surprised that his son acted in such a heroic manner. "I am proud of him," Gus Tepper said. "This could have been a very ugly situation. But in other situations, Mike has done the same thing. At parties, if some guy is getting picked on, Mike will get in the way."
"To tell the truth, I don't know how I did it," Tepper said. "I just reacted.
"I credit that to Coach (Jeff) Tedford. He teaches us how to be football players with class. He just doesn't teach us football, he teaches us character ... how to be men."
Sober Stanford Fans?
Impossible.
For a women, buy a cute little .38 derringer. They are tiny, super light, and will save your life. Just learn how to shoot it. It's easy, and fun.
Oh, and if you got a cell phone, use it, tell um your scared, you've got a concern, and you'd like someone just to show up. That way if you have to shoot someone, it'll be documented, and show that you at least called for help first. A cell phone can be a life saver too, just don't rely on it with your life.
I was leaning towards Glocks ...
This sort of @#! is what whipping stocks were made for.
I'll bet he doesn't shave his chest! Cahone' cheers!
Two .38 rounds (the most a derringer will carry) won't stop many of the druggie trolls out there these days. That's why police departments are moving to the .40 and back to the .45.
If the doublestack microGlocks like the 30 are too wide for your hand or taste, there's now the singlestack 36 with a slimmer frame. Same caliber, just thinner. And a very, very nasty surprise for Druggie Troll. The .45 ACP is, IMHO, the most effective overall pistol round.
You should call the cops anyway and report it. When I was a college student, I had some yahoo follow me home on the El in Chicago. I was able to get away from him, then immediately called the cops. They picked up the guy (who had a string of rape charges, but not one of them had ever come to a conviction) and escorted him home - on the other side of Chicago. They very unofficially told me later that they had very unofficially told him that if they EVER saw him in Evanston again, they would kick his @ss. I certainly never saw the guy again, even though he saw where I lived, so I think he got the hint. If you get the right cops when you report this, they might do the same for you!
That is scary....next time drive to the nearest police station. I had to do that once years ago. Now, I dare anyone to try that crap...I am trained in jiu-jitsu, carry a glock & usually have either my pitbull or my man with me at night.
I don't call them low-riders-- I call them low-lifers
Most cities won't send out a cop to deal with that unless they don't have anything else to do or someone's been shot. Listen to the LA 911 dispatchers sometime.
Even if they dispatch immediately, it could be more than 30 minutes before they get there. Even under optimal conditions, the goblin has at least 5-8 minutes to do what he will with you.
Rape followed by murder takes all of 4 minutes.
I knew I liked you!
This is clearly a hate crime against a white stud with the balls to date a black babe. In a just world, she'd have whipped out a 9mm and emptied the clip.
If you can, move to Texas. Good people, good food, and great CCW laws. 8-)
Let me clarify my reply ... I did not at all mean to tell Dasher that she should not get both a gun and a cell phone. I think that both are handy tools for any woman. I simply think that she should also report it to the police, just on general principles. You never know; it might be a slow night when you call and something might actually get done. In any case, no harm is caused by reporting something like that, even if the cops aren't interested.
.45 is my choice and has been for many years.
Thanks.
To repeat myself:
Well whaddya know. Got all the way through the article and never once was it mentioned that Camille was black. What a racist bunch of pigs, not just the perps, but the editorial staff of the Contra Costa Times.
This is clearly a hate crime against a white stud with the balls to date a black babe. In a just world, she'd have whipped out a 9mm and emptied the clip.
You might want to try out the average small female on the typical derringer and again on the Glock 30/36. Chances are that she'll find the Glock lighter-recoiling and a lot easier to shoot. For the calibers they come in, derringers have horrible felt recoil and a great deal of muzzle flash, which means that the lady isn't likely to practice with the weapon a great deal. And we all know that practice with one's chosen weapon is *very, very important*.
I figured this out a while back and stopped recommending derringers and revolvers to women, except for those so hopelessly confused by technology that they couldn't be taught how to take apart and clean a Glock. (And yes, there are guys like that, too - seems to be about the same percentage of the population for both genders, so nobody take offense). Other than those, I recommend autopistols.
And we all know that practice with one's chosen weapon is *very, very important*.
In reality, most women that carry, don't practice. They go out a few times, learn to use it, and like many of us, neglect to go routinely and practice. I even know cops that can't find the time.
As you know, most shooting involving handguns/defense are within a few feet. Not much practice needed there except for reloading techniques.
I don't know where you're getting $600 - most Glock 30s can be found new in stores for between $400-$500.
If that's out of the budget, Kahr makes some excellent inexpensive small polymer-framed automatics in .45 as well.
Even Ruger has a somewhat compact .45 that is easy on the budget. Though Rugers tend to be a bit heavy, they're some of the most reliable arms out there. And you can use one as a hammer and it won't care.
Automatics really aren't all that expensive any more. A Ruger will cost about the same as a good derringer in a real caliber.
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