The Virginian-Pilot
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CHESAPEAKE
Four youths accused of attacking former NFL player Ed Beard were indicted Tuesday on gang-related charges.
Jalen Riddick, 17, Tyhir Richardson, 15, James Richardson-Jackson, 16, and Joseph Morgan, 16, were indicted by a grand jury in Chesapeake Circuit Court. The charges, according to court documents: recruiting for a gang and participating in a crime with a gang in a school zone.
The youths already had been charged with malicious assault and malicious wounding by a mob - charges serious enough that a judge ruled last month that they would be tried as adults.
The gang charges will be added to the assault charges in trials for each youth, said Commonwealth's Attorney David Whitted. The first Circuit Court trial for any of the youths is Friday, when Richardson is to be in court. Richardson-Jackson's trial is set for Feb. 24, Morgan's for March 16 and Riddick's for March 23.
On Oct. 23, Beard, 71, was riding his bicycle in his neighborhood when he came upon a group of youths beating a person on the Portlock Primary School baseball field. When he tried to stop the attack, some of the youths surrounded him and began striking him.
Beard, a former linebacker with the San Francisco 49ers, sustained a concussion, a gash on the back of his head, a black eye, and cuts and bruises.
The assault charges are related to the attack on Beard. The gang charges stem from the attack on the person on the ball field.
Jeff Hampton, 252-338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com
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Mr. Beard...
Why are these "punks" not being charged with a "Hate Crime"???
City of Chesapeake (as all the others) are so afraid they will be called racists, that this will go as a slap-on-the-hand, as in the past.
Can hear the parents now... "He was trying to turn his life around, he really is a good boy that got caught up with a bad crowd that afternoon..."
Hate Crime????
How can you call it a hate crime? He wasn't attacked cause he was a white man on a bike. He was attacked cause he tried to broke up a fight and they turned on him. The person could have been any color it wouldn't have matter. Either way the kids were wrong and who wouldn't take up for their child right or wrong....
A Prime Example
This is a prime example of what's wrong. The first three sentences I agree with. It wasn't a hate crime. But read the last sentence, "who wouldn't take up for their child right or wrong...." I wouldn't. If my child is wrong about something, he's wrong and I'm not taking up for him (or her).
They've gotta take the consequences cause that's how we learn not to repeat the behavior.
Proper Punishment is Key -- Not a wrist slap
Cudos to Chesapeake law enforcement for pursueing these dudes and NOT just letting this be another unsolved crime. Hopefully the courts will do the right thing with Proper Punishment and NOT A SLAP ON THE WRIST!!
Total disregard for authority, rules, proper behaviour is far too prevelant among kids now days. And slaps on the wrist only perpetuates the problem.
What happend to Mr. Beard was beyond shameful. And these particular thug-wannabees should pay for their dispicable act with proper punishment. Maybe it will be an example to others, maybe not? But more importantly THEY will reep consequences for their act.
Slap em on the wrist and be prepared for them and thier crew to just continue to terrorize decent citizens.
throw the book
at these thug wanna-bees!! No reason for what they did!! Let's see if they're "manly men" *boys* in jail!!
Homies
More people need to do what Ed is doing. Take back their neighborhoods
from people that do these kinds of things.
Portlock
It, in Ed's youthful days, was a solid residential area bordering on Money Point's industrial area and South Hill's working neighborhoods and was more busy working and looking for work than idle and looking to their " Homies " for esteem. Hang in there Ed!
Thugs
I hope they find about a dozen more charges to press against these pieces of excrement that keeps them behind bars for along time. It is about time someone tried to do something about punks like these. Ed should be rewarded for doing something. That is the problem with alot of these waste of human flesh kids nowadays, they do crap like this and nobody has the balls to do anything about it, so they keep doing it. Rot in a freaking cell you pieces of excrement.