A Cruel Affray in Dolgoprudny: A Gentle Soul Beaten Down for the Sake of a Carriage-Way

The fog of indifference hangs heavy over the roads of Dolgoprudny. There, in a scene that would make the heart of any honest man sink, a wretched act of violence unfolded. A gentleman, acting as a companion to a poor soul in a wheeled chair, found himself the victim of a most savage assault.

They were merely venturing forth from their dwellings, the man guiding the lady's chair along the wayside. But lo! A driver of a Chevrolet carriage, possessed by a sudden and murderous rage, took offence that the chair dared to occupy the road. Words were exchanged—sharp, bitter words—and in a heartbeat, the conflict boiled over into a brutal skirmish.

The assailant showed no mercy. He rained down blows upon the man’s face with his boots, striking him like a common street-thug in a rookery. The poor lady in the chair cried out, pleading for the madness to cease, her voice trembling against the violence. From the windows of a nearby tenement, the ladies of the house watched in horror, capturing the scene and summoning the authorities with all haste.

The victim was carried off to the infirmary, broken and bleeding. As for the rogues, they vanished into the smog, slipping away before the law could lay a hand on them. The detectives—those tireless sleuths of the precinct—are now scouring the district to bring these scoundrels to justice.

Alas, such cruelty is a contagion in these times. Only recently, we heard tell of a brute in Bashkiria who beat a disabled father over a mere footpath, and in the wilds of Dagestan, a young scholar in a chair was set upon for the sake of a velocipede. It seems the world grows colder, and the bullies grow bolder.