I love this park. I love the view. However, it is VERY isolated. It's a rather long drive from Harbor Avenue. And for most of it, train tracks and a rail yard lie between the park and the main road. The other side of the park is coastline. Sounds idyllic, right? Unfortunately, this isolated location draws a strange crowd. Sure, there are people walking their dogs and cyclists enjoying the view. But there are also sketchy characters doing sketchy things. Even that didn't keep me from enjoying this park. What happened last Thursday is why I'm giving this park 1 star. I'm hoping to save anyone from having an experience similar to or worse than mine. Below is the information I gave the police:
10am Thursday, July 3, 2014
My 4 1/2 year old son and I decided to explore Jack Block Park. It's one of his favorite parks: water, trains, paths to bike, etc. (We usually go with my hubby on the weekends)
I parked my car next to a white hatchback in the first parking area by the bathrooms and gravel "play" area. The park was empty save one man walking from the bathrooms toward the gravel play area. He was a white male, around 50yrs old, 5'11", with short, messy, mostly gray hair, a stubbly, unshaven jawline, & wearing a well worn, red and gray? plaid shirt. He was smoking a cigarette in his right hand, and a plastic juice bottle in his left.
As he walked away from the bathrooms, he watched us get out of the car. Our eyes met. His face was stony. He didn't look away. He continued along the lower path that winds between the gravel play area on the left and a hill on the right. The small path ends at a couple picnic tables nestled behind some bushes at the far end of the gravel play area. There he stood, behind the bushes, smoking and watching us. My son ran into the gravel area to climb on the huge buoys. I took a few pictures of my kiddo playing. I saw the man still standing behind the bushes, staring at us.
My son began to walk deeper in to the gravel play area, closer to the man. The man proceeded to walk backwards up the grassy hill that separates the play area and the parking lot. He stared at us the entire time, expressionless. He reached the top, stopped, and stared. Trying to figure the guy out, I took a few moments to really look at him. He backed around a bush at the top of the hill, and just stared at me.
At this point, I was convinced this man was behaving in a suspicious way that felt aggressive, even though he was silent and stoic. I took my son's hand hand and rushed to our car. When we rounded the hill to the parking area, the man had just descended the stairs that lead from the top of the hill to the parking area. He was 30 feet away from our car, staring into my eyes, and walking toward us. Clearly, he had rushed down the stairs in order to arrive in the parking area when we did. He would have had to run to make it down as fast as he did. His stare didn't waver as he speedily walked toward us. I made my son get in the driver's door. My kiddo sat in his car seat. I started the car, slammed it into reverse, and drove away. The man was less than 10 feet from my car when I drove away. He stopped walking, and watched us drive away.
My son kept saying "you forgot to buckle my harness". When we reached Harbor Avenue, I buckled my son in his car seat. I honestly don't know what would have happened if I had taken the time to buckle my son in. All I know is when I assessed the danger of driving with him unrestrained vs. having that man reach our car...I shudder just thinking about it. Nightmarish.
I'm not saying don't go this park. I just want people who go to the park to enjoy it safely. We'll still go, but probably as a family and on the weekends when it's busier. read more