When I got home, I was hysterical. Somewhat incoherent, I told my roommates what had happened. One of them called the police, who came to the house and took a somewhat disjointed (due primarily to the trauma of the mugging, although drinking at the party all evening didn’t help) report from me about what had happened. Although foggy, I was able to give a description of my assailant and his partner who was standing across the street. This information enabled the police to arrest my mugger in less than an hour. (My court testimony a few months later put him, his partner, and two others in this “mugging gang” into jail.) My purse, however, was never found.

After the police left, I tried to sleep but was too upset to do so. I paced my room for the next three hours, periodically returning to my bed to try to get some sleep. Four hours after the mugging, I wanted a cigarette. I didn’t have one, since my pack had been in my purse.

I took my spare car key—my key chain with all my keys was also in my purse—to drive to an all-night convenience store. I made it a few blocks when I lost control of the car and slammed into a lamp post. The lamp post destroyed my car—it ended up being totaled—but, by the grace of God, I wasn’t injured.

I was alone on a dark street and nobody was around. I was terrified, because of the mugging, and didn’t want to stay at the accident site. I was able to get my car home before it died completely. I was exhausted and decided I would go to bed and call the police in the morning. I didn’t have to do this. The police had followed the trail of the transmission fluid that had leaked from my car from the fallen lamp post to the garage where my car was parked. The same two officers who had taken the mugging report came to the door and took another report the next day. I had no license, registration or insurance information. This had been in my wallet in the stolen purse. The police left and that was that, or so I thought.

In August I discovered that a warrant was out for my arrest. I was being charged with drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident. Although I was given no tests, such as a breathalyzer, the police declared me drunk after the fact, based on my condition after the mugging. A court date was set. After securing an attorney and discovering how many thousands of dollars would be needed to fight the drunken driving charge, my parents and I decided to plead guilty to the lesser charge of driving while impaired. The "leaving the scene of an accident" charge was dismissed.

Well…guess what I learned the hard way and after what turned out to be more than $3,000 for attorney fees, court-ordered alcohol counseling, and court and State of Michigan fines? (Insurance paid for the new lamppost.) I learned to never, ever walk alone at night. I learned to never, ever drive a car if I have had even one drink. I learned that money can get you off. (Even the judge tried to convince me to plead not guilty since the police had no evidence that the accident was caused by alcohol.)

I also learned that one night can result in punishment that lasts years. My car insurance rate is astronomical and I now have a bad driving record. One night caused so much damage…and I’m still paying for it!