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Attack on homeless man called first in Valley
By William K. Alcorn AND Peter H. Milliken
YOUNGSTOWN
The beating and stoning last week of a 58-year-old homeless man by a pack of youths was the first in the Mahoning Valley known to agencies that help the homeless.
The assault occurred about 4 p.m. Thursday on Sherwood Avenue on the South Side. A group of boys, who police later determined to range in age from 9 to 16, were seen taunting, beating and stoning a man who lived in a vacant home once occupied by his mother.
Neighbors had given the man food, and they represent the attitudes and actions of the vast majority of people here toward the homeless, said Terry Vicars, homeless case worker for Catholic Charities.
“We’ve been very fortunate in that homeless persons have not been the targets of violence. I appreciate the fact that the vast majority of people in this community go out of their way to treat the homeless well. That is more the norm than this type of violence, and we’re grateful for that,” he said.
“It’s the first instance I’m aware of locally in which a group of people have gone after somebody homeless. I even wonder if it was because he was homeless or in spite of being homeless. Maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Vicars said.
This is a rarity in the Mahoning Valley, said Robert Altman, head of Help Hotline’s Homeless Assistance and Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness programs. “It’s the first I’ve heard of in the Youngstown/Warren area.”
“We’re not hearing about anything like that in the city. This is the first instance I’m aware of, and I’ve been here six years,” said Ron Starcher, client-services director from the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley.
Attacks on the homeless, however, have been rising in other Ohio and Pennsylvania cities from 2000 to 2009, according to statistics from the National Coalition for the Homeless.
Eleven homeless people have been killed and 42 beaten in Ohio during that period, and in Pennsylvania, five homeless people have been killed, and 15 beaten during that same time frame, according to the coalition.
Police haven’t seen the victim of last week’s assault since he left the hospital, but they are looking for him, and the case is being investigated as a possible felonious assault, said Police Chief Jimmy Hughes.
The victim has not filed a complaint with police, and there were no visible signs of injury on the victim when he was taken by ambulance to the hospital, Hughes said.
He added, however, “We do have an individual that witnessed them throwing the bricks at this individual.”
Police know where the suspects live, he said, adding, “We seem to have some admissions from some of the kids.”
As of late Monday afternoon, no arrests have been made, and no charges have been filed.
“If we can come up with the proper charges, then we’ll send it down to juvenile court,” the chief said.
Hughes added that he intends to hold parents accountable for the delinquency of their children. Parents, he said, can be prosecuted criminally for the delinquency of their children.
“Where are the parents?” asked Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains. “I hope that the juvenile court deals with them appropriately under the facts and circumstances,” he said of the juvenile assailants.
The most important thing the homeless can do to protect themselves is to know there is a place to go. The Rescue Mission is well-run and usually has room, said Vicars.
“We pride ourselves that this is a place of shelter ... our place and the Warren Mission,” Starcher said.
But, the homeless need to be aware of their surroundings, Vicars said.
They need to have a place to go at night, and if they don’t or don’t want to go to the Mission, they can call Help Hotline, which has outreach programs, Altman added.
Altman estimated there are between 200 and 300 homeless individuals in Mahoning County. Some 229 individuals used the Rescue Mission shelter during the cold weather — December 2009 through March 2010, he said.
“What happened to that man is one of those unfortunate things that should not happen, and I hope it doesn’t happen again. Homeless people are so misunderstood. People don’t understand all the underlying issues. Being homeless often is secondary to mental illness and substance abuse,” Starcher said.