Six [black] teens attacked [white] man because 'they were just bored,' police say
Aug. 15, 2012 by Jennifer Edwards Baker
news.cincinnati.com
Pat Mahaney was attacked while walking home from the store by six teens, who police say assaulted Mahaney because they were bored. / Jennifer Edwards Baker/The Enquirer
NORTH COLLEGE HILL — Pat Mahaney was walking home Saturday with a six-pack of beer, looking forward to a quiet evening watching sports, when something hit him in the back of the head.
“The next thing I knew I woke up on my neighbor’s front step and the life squad was there,” said the 45-year-old North College Hill resident.
Six [black] teenagers, who according to a police report “were just bored and were looking for something to do,” ambushed Mahaney from behind as he turned off Simpson Avenue onto Dallas Avenue. He was immediately knocked unconscious.
“I don’t remember anything,” Mahaney, 45, said as he recovered this morning at his mother’s home. “I was walking home from the store - and bam.”
It was probably a blessing he was knocked out during the worst of the brutal attack -- one of the teens even grabbed a can of beer and hurled it at his head.
The boys, ages 13 and 14, face felony charges of aggravated riot and felonious assault.
The sixth and final suspect was arrested Tuesday. All but one have been released from Hamilton County’s juvenile detention center and are on house arrest at their parents’ residences, court officials said today.
The teens are scheduled to go on trial Aug. 24.
When police rounded most of the teens up, took them back to the police station and questioned them, they admitted Mahaney had done nothing to provoke being kicked and punched repeatedly in the face while he was helpless on the ground.
The boys told police they only stopped assaulting Mahaney when a neighbor began yelling at them and said he was calling police.
An officer who happened to be in the area responding to a call about dogs fighting was nearby and spotted a crowd of people gathered at the corner of Dallas and Simpson. Several witnesses told the officer Mahaney, who was covered in blood, “was jumped by six children,” the incident report states.
Mahaney was taken to Mercy Mt. Airy Hospital, where he was treated for four days before being released Tuesday. He suffered so many internal injuries that doctors had to insert a tube down his throat to remove all the blood from his stomach.
A tube remains in his right nostril as blood continues to seep out of his head, and his left eye is heavily blackened.
The attack couldn’t come at a worse time. He has no health insurance and has been unemployed for “years,” he said.
He is looking for factory work but with the economy slow, jobs are almost impossible to come by, he said. Now, his job search is delayed while he recovers.
He was not surprised he was attacked but said he is taken aback at the age of his assailants.
“I didn’t think kids could do something like this,” he said. “They should be punished.”
Neighbors and police remain shocked at the brutality of the crime.
“It was a heinous crime but it was not a hate crime,” said North College Hill Police Chief Gary Foust of the teens, who are all black.
He said several residents have called police inquiring if Mahaney was specifically targeted because he is white. He was not, the chief stressed.
Police were more struck at how cocky the boys were for being so young.
“They were pretty arrogant in the interview with us,” Foust said. “It’s appalling. I think it’s despicable. This appears to be premeditated and there was no remorse on behalf of any of the assailants. Thirteen-year-olds ought to be playing basketball, not running the streets looking for ways to entertain themselves at the expense of somebody.”
Foust credited Mahaney’s neighbors with coming to his aid, saying they helped to quickly apprehend the suspects.
“If not for their assistance, we would not have been able to investigate and complete it with the arrests,” he said. “The community as a whole was not tolerable of the offense and were very instrumental in giving us the individuals involved.”
A wood plaque on Mahaney’s house reads “Protected by Angels.”
“He is real sweet,” said Kita Hill, 26, who lives next door to Mahaney. “He says hi to me and my kids all the time. I think it is ignorant what happened to him. Why would kids jump on a man minding his own business? I think it is sad. I hope nothing like that happens again here. I keep my kids inside unless I am outside to watch then. You just never know what might happen."
|
