A 21-year-old Anchorage man was arrested early Friday morning and charged with slashing dozens of tires overnight in a South Anchorage neighborhood.
Frank Grubbs was charged with two counts of criminal mischief, police said.
The vandalism to more than 40 cars was in the area of Abbott Loop and Little Creek Drive. A resident looked out her window just after 2:30 a.m. and saw a man taking a knife to cars parked on the street. The knife was used to cut tires and scrape paint.
When police arrived, they said, they found Grubbs holding a large knife and hiding behind a vehicle.
A policeman lived in the neighborhood and had both a K-9 cruiser and his personal car damaged.
One count of criminal mischief was for disabling a police car, the second was for the damage to all the other cars.
According to a database of public records, Grubbs is licensed as a pharmacy technician and has lived in the neighborhood for more than a decade.
Grubbs was lodged at the Anchorage jail with bail set at $2,500.
There are two reasons that I felt compelled to post this story.
One is that this guy is a soldier who is scheduled to deploy to Iraq next month and was clearly desperate to keep that from happening.
And two is that this incident happened one street over from where I live!
I only learned about this when I went to work and that is also where I found out all of the extra details.
This guy REALLY did not want to go to Iraq. He slashed tires on three streets and damaged two police cars and simply waited to be caught. He seemed a little incoherent apparently but he was determined to get into enough trouble to keep him out of this ridiculous war.
I don't know if he has already done a tour or not, but if I find out I will do a follow up to this story. This is just one example of the toll this debacle is having on people's lives that does not get reported by the news media.
thank you for being a real journalist and reporting this and asking the WHY question.....sad....really sad...
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post regarding this young individual whom went on a "tire slashing rampage", for the mere fact of not getting deployed. You are talking about somebody's life, somebody's life which was devastated by a disease. That disease is called Alcoholism. I am talking about myself here. I am that Soldier.
ReplyDeleteWhat the media portrayed is not the complete story. They do not look into the pure spirit of the man, but reside to the facade I have built up over the years with my disease. Alcohol and drugs devastate not only the user, but those around him or her. The "tire spree" was a clear representation of that devastation.
There isn't a day where I do not feel remorse for what I did that night. I can only ask for forgiveness and repay my debts to society. My struggle was a spiritual struggle. There has always been a constant battle of right and wrong residing between my ears. Alcohol was the self-medication to suppress the constant war, but did quite the opposite. It invoked an evil that resided within me.
I have always wanted to serve my country. I have always wanted to be a leader. A couple of days ago I had to say goodbye to the soldiers whom were leaving for Iraq. I was supposed to be one of them. I wanted to be one of them. It was a chance for me to start my life over. It was a chance for me to become a new man.
Alcoholism and addiction is a vicious circle. Without the proper care and treatment, as you have seen, can change a man. Who plan's to devastate their lives? Why would any coherent individual decide to go out and throw his life in the garbage? I definitely didn't want to destroy my life. I bet you wouldn't either.
Don't get me wrong.I have always known what is right. I have always known what is wrong. That is what we call the Law of Nature. We as humans, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. We as humans do not behave in that way. We know the Law of Nature; we break it. Alas, for me, at the time of the crime I was completely intoxicated. I was incapable of any coherent cognition.
If you had any chance of knowing me sober ( and I have been since rehabilitation ), you would know me as a hard-working, intelligent , neighbor-friendly individual. I was the best of the best, and always strived for more. Please do not be blind and accept the facade the media portrays about individuals. When you get a more in-depth story and understanding you can realize the person on the other side of that wall.
I'm not trying to escape my actions. The past is the past. I have got to accept my actions. I have to accept my scars. Our scars remind us that the past is indeed real. Some scars are mental, some are physical. I have my fair share of both.
Gryphen I am sorry to inform you that you prediction about my behavior, based on the media's perspective, is faulty. You quote.
May 03 , 2008
"There are two reasons that I felt compelled to post this story.One is that this guy is a soldier who is scheduled to deploy to Iraq next month and was clearly desperate to keep that from happening.And two is that this incident happened one street over from where I live! "
1. There was no "obvious" desperation in me to ruin my life.
- As I have tried to explain above... when you are under the influence you do not have direct control of your actions.
2. I am the victim's neighbors.
- As a neighbor, for more then a decade I have known many of the victims. They are victims, yes. I was the main victim of my addiction to alcohol.
I woke up in jail, unaware of my actions. There was no pre-mediated effort on my part to abstain from my military duties. There was and there is no evidence of me directly choosing to slash the police officers tires. It was a random act of violence, mediated by alcohol. When you say "little", were you there to give me a breathalyzer? How can you come to such a conclusion with little to no facts to support it? Please, before you blog and before you make assumptions about other people based on the facade get your story straight.
I know you didn't have much to work with and I understand where you are coming from. I can understand your faulty little assumptions.
I would like to share with you Gryphen with what I had to endure. This is what i wrote a couple hours after I shook the hands of the deploying soldiers. I was supposed to go with them. This is what was going through my mind.
"I am consciously aware of these changes but I feel like I am a prisoner on the inside. My mind seems to be controlling what my body does. I can shout and plea but my emotions seem to have their own conductor. As I am starting to understand more and more about cognition and its laws I can use these techniques to release the man in the cage. How would you like to be locked up inside your own head. Someone is always there, dangling the keys for my release. You are always looking for a way to get a hold of that key. To be released. Emotional stability is what I desire.
The past couple days for me have been a mental crusade. I went into my military drill with the utmost confidence, but with the things that are going on in this natural world it is hard for my faith to follow suit. The oil in my lamp is reaching an end and I need to refill it, not with drugs and alcohol but with hard work and determination in my faith.
The first day of drill was an endeavor, I decided to open up emotionally to many there so they can look at the person struggling within the cage, instead of the facade that I worked so hard on to create. I noticed how others were still the same and acted in the same manner towards others as if nothing has ever changed in their lives in the past couple months. I was jealous. I wanted to put myself in their boots.
I found myself in the restroom peering at myself within the mirror. You look great in that military uniform. Why did you have to throw all this all away? I looked deep within my reflection questioning my existence. Questioning my thought patterns.
I looked tired.
My skeleton was out of the closet. Everyone had a view of what I really was ,emotionally and physically. At that moment I saw it as well. I see how others saw me. I visualized myself naked , crouched in the fetal position rotting away in the depths of a damp and deserted dungeon. I saw myself at my weakest. I felt a warm weight on my chest. I didn't notice at the time I had the keys right next to me the entire time. The keys were right at the tips of my fingers. I was holding my rosary and the Bible was over my heart. Suddenly my crucifix fell off my rosary and I felt a deep remorse. How easily the light can flutter. The utter joy of being within his presence followed by deep despair for an symbolic situation which could easily be logically explained. This sudden revelation brought me back into the small beams of light emanating from the cell door. I forced a smile and returned to the classroom.
My light was glowing and others noticed. My oil reserves were steadily dwindling as if there was a leak on the basin. I talked in depth with others, letting them know that we are human and humans make mistakes. I kept my confidence and military demeanor. My friends were leaving tomorrow for Iraq. I was to partake in these events but I had to sit this one out. The handshaking and appreciation for those going overseas seemed endless. As I shook each and every one of their hands I thought of how heroic it would have been to undertake the journey. To travel a long distance away from some of my problems, collect myself and learn to love and learn to be a leader in another fashion. I stared into their eyes with remorse but portrayed comfort.
I felt sorry for myself. Why did I have to put the people I have loved for so long in this position? Why did I of all people have to acquire such a demoralizing disease? I started to put the blame on my parents and others around me. I was so focused on the negatives I didn't realize the insights and knowledge I learned from my previous experiences. The day ended without excitement and I returned home as my mind was racing over the daily grind.
- Frank Grubbs , Defiantly not a part of the Immoral Minority.
frankandbeans11@gmail.com
I read your entire response Frank and I offer my apologies if I jumped to a conclusion which was inaccurate.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing was I almost did not post the story. But I kept bumping into it at work and on the news and could not stop thinking about the reasons for your actions.I felt it was probably a safe bet to assume that your rampage was related your upcoming deployment. I of course made that assumption using the news story and some comments from some of your neighbors that I ran into. I apologize again for my mistake.
I am glad you received help with your addictions and hope that you are doing well.
You are not a part of my minority and that is fine, I guess if it had too many members it would not remain a "minority".
I also noticed that you may have a penchant for writing. Perhaps you should start a blog of your own.
If you do send me a link and I will add it to my blogroll. I am always interested in getting different points of view and of being corrected if I make the mistake or seeing things too narrowly through my own prism.
So again I thank you for taking the time to explain your side of the story.
Take care of yourself.
Gryphen.
Gryphen,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all thank you for your support and for your apology.
Secondly, the assumptions you made were true to the facts that sustained them. Like I said before we all make mistakes and some of them we are not aware of.
My intervention came through a combination of my imprisonment, rehabilitation and the loving support of close friends and family members. I am truthfully blessed for having the eyes of my heart opened towards the dreadfulness of my actions.
I am undoubtedly linked towards others and their willingness to forgive. So I thank you for your forgiveness of my transgressions.
I have, and been doing quite a bit of writing on my own but never actually thought of posting my thoughts and emotions on a web blog for others to relate towards.
You, as well have an uncanny knack for words and your opinion and many other people's opinions, besides my own, grants me wisdom and insight towards other view points that I once shrugged off as a mere lack of intelligence.
Sometimes pain and suffering can facilitate maturity. For me those pains and those sufferings have led me beyond other peoples opinions that I once rebuked.
I look forwards to getting to know you better, for some of your writing and some of your insight brings me to question the men and women whom have fallen into your description of "The Immoral Minority."
For me, morality and the feeling of doing what is right and what is presented as "true" in the eyes of our society brings me to question my relationship towards those morals.
I would like to share my opinion's with your opinions. I will definetly be a regular visitor to your blog, until I find the time myself to create one of my own. Please feel free to question my ideas and feel free to disect any thought that I have for the greater good of morality.
Your Friend,
Frank Grubbs
I have created a blog.
ReplyDeletehttp://ambientmorality.blogspot.com/