Four Florida men have been arrested after allegedly taking part in a brutal bonfire attack that left a disabled 19-year-old beaten for as long as 40 minutes.
The suspects — Cody Stripling, 18, Sebastian Bowers, 19, Logan Levesque, 18, and Casey Knight, 19 — allegedly ambushed the victim at Tiger Bay State Forest near Daytona Beach on Oct. 23, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.
“When I first saw it, the first reaction was I want to throw up,” Chitwood said Thursday while discussing video of the assault at a news conference. “These morons, who we’ve dubbed ‘Scumbags of the Week,’ decide it’s a good idea to beat somebody down who can’t defend themselves.”
The footage appears to show the victim sitting in the bed of a pickup truck before one of the suspects struck him in the head and threw him to the ground.
The group then allegedly punched and kicked him repeatedly as he remained on the ground, unable to protect himself.
The attackers could be heard laughing as the beating continued, according to the video.
“He couldn’t even throw a punch,” Chitwood said. “He couldn’t do anything. He just walks up and gets sucker-punched and they’re piling on him, kicking him, stomping him, putting him in a chokehold.”
The victim had gone to the bonfire with a friend, but Chitwood said he was shy and initially hesitant to take part in the gathering.
The teens told authorities that the disabled man had made an inappropriate remark about a woman at the party and allegedly touched her leg.
According to police, they claimed they were “defending the woman’s honor.”
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Chitwood rejected that explanation.
“You’re beating an individual that basically has one arm is what you’re doing and some other issues. And you think it’s cool. I don’t — I don’t — I don’t get it,” he said.
The victim’s friend eventually pulled him away from the group. His mother, however, did not contact authorities until the next day.
The 19-year-old suffered a concussion along with several minor injuries.
All four suspects face enhanced felony charges, including battery on a disabled adult.
Knight is accused of filming the assault and posting the footage on Snapchat.
“If you’re gonna stand there and film this stuff, and then post it, your ass is getting locked up, OK?” Chitwood said of Knight.
“You have a duty to intervene but you want to be a cameraman and get clicks and you want to film your punk coward ass friends, you’re going to get the same treatment that they’re going to get.”
Stripling and Bowers were arrested first, followed by Levesque and Knight. All four are being held in jail without bond.
“They should be known for what they did. You want to be a big man? Well, now they’re going to be treated like big men,” Chitwood added.
