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."
The point is - sorry I like to yak - if my son can do it at 10 a woman can handle a Glock and they do have less recoil IMHO. ;-)
were not drinking, not on drugs. They were sober.
Bravo!!! And Jeff Tedford is a class act.
And these thugs are stone stupid. I hope they get theirs.
Sage advice...no bells, whistles, or levers, and a consistent trigger. Despite the fairy tales about accidental discharges, I've been slinging one around almost constantly in a fanny pack (around the waist, over the shoulder, around the back, hanging from my bedpost, etc...) for at least seven years with nary an incident. Keep your finger off the trigger, and it won't go boom.
The 36 is much more punishing to shoot. If you need thinner, go with a steel frame like the Kimber 1911s.
I was wondering if anyone else was going to catch that.
Stopping someone with a .22 almost ALWAYS requires their death. A shot to the eye is just about the only thing that will drop someone immediately. Not an easy shot under stressed conditions, even if one doesn't have a problem with taking a life.
Coach Jeff Tedford - Fresno State Class of '83 PING!
I don't know about that. I've heard mixed reviews on the subject. The one I shot didn't have much additional recoil. However, I can see how the thinner backstrap would increase felt recoil for some people.
I prefer (and recommend) the original 30 over the 36 unless you have really small hands anyway. Moral of the story is, "Go rent and test fire any gun model you are interested in carrying."
And even then, if you catch the eye at the wrong angle, you might not kill them. And with a .22, even a fatal shot is not usually immediately disabling. It may be quite a while before a fatal .22 wound causes the goblin's death. In the meantime, he's taking you apart and feeding you your mousegun.
You're right, it isn't that much more felt recoil, and shooting it once or twice wouldn't really be what I'd call punishing. I'm more addressing taking it to the range and putting a hundred rounds through it. We all know the connection between comfort and practice, so I won't be pedantic about it...you know what I mean.
What really galled me was that paper quoting her saying that she crosses that intersection every day, even when she told the reporter that she was afraid of retribution.
Why did they have to tell everybody her whereabouts? They might as well put a target on her back. The jerks didn't have to print that for the story.
If he scared you, call the cops. If the cops are any good at all, they'll scare him. I don't know how it works in
Chicago, but here in down home Oklahoma cops love puttin' the heebie-jeebies into lowlifes.
For the record, I'm sure I have an alibi for that night...
Ya know, reading the article, I thought Tepper was black, and Camille was white. It didn't say but I've got the picture in my mind that the low-lifes were white. Wanna see how that plays out.
Welcome to America. Your news must be sanitized for you.
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