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The recent beating of a white township resident by a group of six black teenagers is considered a bias crime, police told a group of more than 200 residents who gathered at a local church last night to express their support for the victim and their concern about violent acts in the area in the past three weeks.
Coulton said the attack and three other crimes in the area in recent weeks do not seem to be related.
"As of right now, the case is initially being considered a bias crime," Coulton said. "Once the investigation is completed, the prosecutor's office will consider whether that is appropriate given the results of the investigation."
Dombroski was walking his dog in his neighborhood when five or six black males wearing hooded sweat shirts approached him, he told police.
He said one asked him if his dog bites and when he said no, the group attacked him. He said he was punched in the face and knocked to the ground, then was kicked and punched.
A neighbor who heard the commotion began yelling and called the police. The attackers fled. They did not steal anything from Dombroski, whose dog ran home during the attack.
-- -- -- The week before the beating, a 22-year-old township woman and her boyfriend were carjacked by four armed men at Moody Park.
The carjackers, one wielding a sawed-off shotgun, drove them to a bank parking lot, then to a darkened street where they beat the man, police said. The four attackers were described as young black men, police said.
Four days after Dombroski was attacked, four black men followed a 20-year-old student on the campus of The College of New Jersey and tried to rip off her clothes, Coulton said.
The next evening at Somerset Park, a 14-year-old who was playing basketball was allegedly attacked by a group of about 10 or 12 black teenagers who came out of the woods. The teenagers allegedly made racial slurs before they kicked him, police said. That event is also being considered a bias crime, Coulton said.
"So far we have no evidence that any of the incidents are at all related," Coulton said. Police said it appears to be a coincidence that the events have happened in the same area in this short period of time.
"What were a bunch of black kids doing walking around with hoods on July 3 when it was almost 100 degrees outside?" asked resident Jerry Ball, who is black. "They should have been stopped by the police."
http://www.nj.com/news/times/index.ssf?/base/news-2/108988059369911.xml
Coulton said the attack and three other crimes in the area in recent weeks do not seem to be related.
"As of right now, the case is initially being considered a bias crime," Coulton said. "Once the investigation is completed, the prosecutor's office will consider whether that is appropriate given the results of the investigation."
Dombroski was walking his dog in his neighborhood when five or six black males wearing hooded sweat shirts approached him, he told police.
He said one asked him if his dog bites and when he said no, the group attacked him. He said he was punched in the face and knocked to the ground, then was kicked and punched.
A neighbor who heard the commotion began yelling and called the police. The attackers fled. They did not steal anything from Dombroski, whose dog ran home during the attack.
-- -- -- The week before the beating, a 22-year-old township woman and her boyfriend were carjacked by four armed men at Moody Park.
The carjackers, one wielding a sawed-off shotgun, drove them to a bank parking lot, then to a darkened street where they beat the man, police said. The four attackers were described as young black men, police said.
Four days after Dombroski was attacked, four black men followed a 20-year-old student on the campus of The College of New Jersey and tried to rip off her clothes, Coulton said.
The next evening at Somerset Park, a 14-year-old who was playing basketball was allegedly attacked by a group of about 10 or 12 black teenagers who came out of the woods. The teenagers allegedly made racial slurs before they kicked him, police said. That event is also being considered a bias crime, Coulton said.
"So far we have no evidence that any of the incidents are at all related," Coulton said. Police said it appears to be a coincidence that the events have happened in the same area in this short period of time.
"What were a bunch of black kids doing walking around with hoods on July 3 when it was almost 100 degrees outside?" asked resident Jerry Ball, who is black. "They should have been stopped by the police."
http://www.nj.com/news/times/index.ssf?/base/news-2/108988059369911.xml
