Two brothers, they were twins, they got a car, just turned sixteen. They had a group of guys that they hung out with that were fighting with the Dindus up at Northbrook. That has always been a sore spot up along Hillen and Taylor, always had crime in that area.

They lived in Upper Parkville, went to Parkville High, where the Northbrook kids go and they were having disputes, neighborhood/gang type fights, getting out of hand, people getting jumped—banked, as people call it.

They had a new car, it was a little Ford Escort a little thing and they had a pile of half bricks and they wanted me to go up there with them and crash some windows. I told them I thought it was a bad idea and they were going to get locked up. They were like, “Come on,” and I said the car was too little. Besides, any car lends itself well to a group of four guys. You pack too many in, you draw attention from law enforcement. You don’t fill the seats and you’re under-manned.

They went. I didn’t go. Luckily for them they never did get arrested. I heard about it from all four of them afterwards. They saw one of the dindus they were having problems with and Eddie hoped out and took a half brick and pitched it in his face like a baseball. They said he fell down to his knees like he was in shock with blood pouring out of his face. They sped off.

I’m not telling anybody what to do and not saying this is right. But thigs like—not this stupid, going out of your neighborhood, but similar actions committed in the neighborhood in the interest of keeping out bad elements—this tended to keep neighborhoods safe because they didn’t let people just come up in their neighborhood, and who comes up into a neighborhood not their own to cause trouble, but young guys from outside? The criminals swarm your neighborhood and the law says you can’t smack somebody with a baseball bat and the people who get leery are the defenders. The criminals don’t give a shit—they’re criminals, so you get this one-sided invasion facilitated by the law.

One of the twins died in a drunk driving accident. The other twin is hanging up and down Harford Road as a junky. The guy that hit the dindu in the face with a brick is doing 20 years in the Maryland State Penitentiary. The fourth guy, I don’t know wat happened to him. He moved away. I hope he made it.