Hate fueled weekend beating says elderly man
03 Apr 2012 by Jennifer Steck, FOX Toledo News reporter
foxtoledo.com
TOLEDO, Ohio (WUPW) - Saturday afternoon around 4:45 p.m., 78-year-old Dallas Watts was walking home from the gas station at the corner of Starr and White in East Toledo.
He was confronted by six juveniles between the ages of 11 to 17, and for the next three or four minutes was nearly beaten up to death because of the color of his skin.
Watts is calling the weekend attack that occurred a block away from his Mason Street home a hate crime. During the attack, Watts says he brought up Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen killed by a block watch member Feb. 26.
"Why me? Remember Trayvon! Remember Trayvon!," Watts recalled. "I meant it as a peaceful way. What happened to Trayvon, I was not responsible for, I live 1,000 miles away! But they kept saying, 'Kill him! Kill Him! Kill him!' because I'm a white man."
On him at the time was a credit card, wallet, house keys and two bags of pork rinds for his dogs. The only thing stolen from him were the bags the pork rinds, leading Watts to believe the attack was racially charged.
"I have heard that there were some comments made, some racial comments made, but that we're still investigating," said Toledo police Sgt. Phil Toney. "We can't really confirm that one way or the other at this point. We still have not talked with Mr. Watts yet. We're going to be talking to him a little bit later."
Watts, who remains sore from the attack but will be fine physically, plans to file charges with the Ohio Attorney General.
Three of the six youths alleged to have been involved in the attack have been charged, Sgt. Toney said. Two of the unidentified youths were charged with one count each of robbery while another youth was charged with disorderly conduct.
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