Family Calls Assault in Baltimore a Hate Crime 

Police have a 19-year-old in custody as the main suspect in two violent incidents last week in the Baltimore neighborhood of Otterbein, WJZ reports.

Within the span of a week in the neighborhood, there have been three attacks, with at least one victim needing surgery for his injuries.

A 25-year-old victim, who has remained unidentified, said that three black teens attacked him Thursday night as he was walking back from the Otterbein Swim Club, where he works as a lifeguard. Sidney Joyner, 19, named as one of the suspects in the incident, allegedly tried to stab the older man with a pocket knife, but the 25-year-old managed to avoid being stuck, according to WJZ.

According to Baltimore Police Sgt. Jarron Jackson, the victim began screaming, prompting residents to swarm outside and causing the suspects to take off on foot. However, the 25-year-old man will need plastic surgery to mend the injuries he suffered.

Authorities later picked up Joyner, charging him with armed robbery, robbery and two counts of assault, the news station notes. However, the victim’s family thinks that the incident may have been more than assault, and even maybe a hate crime. “I feel like this was attempted murder,” the 25-year-old’s father told the station. “An injury that severe definitely wasn’t an intent to injure—it was an intent to kill.”

The father told the news station that the teens allegedly yelled, “Hey, white boy!” while attacking his son. “If roles were reversed, it definitely would be no question whether it was a hate crime or not,” he insisted.

Read more at WJZ.