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Police say teens beat man to death
Saturday, June 28, 2008 8:33 AM PDT
CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) — A group of teenagers beat a homeless man to death as passers-by slowed to watch the attack, some of which was caught on videotape, police said.
Anthony Waters, 42, suffered a lacerated spleen and broken ribs during the attack Wednesday night and died at a hospital, police said.
“The pack mentality going on in the city of Cleveland must end,” police Commander Calvin Williams said Thursday at a news conference where he urged the attackers to come forward.
Portions of the attack were caught on a surveillance camera outside G&M Towing Co. on the city’s east side.
Police said the videotape shows passing cars slowing to watch three teens attack Waters until he staggered into the parking lot, where he was assisted by G&M employees.
Waters suffered from blunt abdominal trauma, a head injury and damaged internal organs, the Cuyahoga County coroner said.
The attackers, who appeared to be around 14 to 17, robbed Waters of a music player and headphones, police said. No arrests have been made.
“I think everybody’s a little disturbed over what occurred,” Craig Collins, G&M Towing general manager, said Friday.
Waters was a welder by trade but had been staying at a Cleveland-area homeless shelter, said Paul Eadeh, a friend, who added that Waters worked odd jobs for him at a beverage store.
“He’s a good guy, a hardworking person,” Eadeh said. “He was just trying to make some money to eat and to live.” |