3 Arrested In Beating Of Homeless Man
Three men are charged in connection with the beating of a homeless man in Reynoldsburg last month.
REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio—Three men are charged in connection with the beating of a homeless man in Reynoldsburg last month.
Reynoldsburg police said that on the evening of May 10 and into the morning of May 11, Robert Wirtz was assaulted and sustained serious injuries from the attack.
The incident occurred in the area of Connell’s Hardware store on East Main Street, where the homeless victim is known to stay.
Officials investigated and three people have been identified as causing the injuries and have been arrested and/or charged with the offense.
Mike Hutton, 18, of Groveport is charged with felonious assault—a felony of the second degree.
Tyler Paul, 17, of Canal Winchester, is charged with felonious assault—a felony of the second degree.
Jeremy Bowman, 17, of Reynoldsburg is charged with felonious assault—a felony of the second degree.
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Reader Reactions
Bob is recooperating at our parents house. He did not get the wires off his jaw. They were supposed to come off last Wednesday. The doctors said a few more weeks.
He still thinks of Reynoldsburg as home. I am sure that he is quite anxious to return. (I can see why.)
Thank you all for your concern, kind words, and more than generous offerings.
Deepest respect and heartfelt thanks to you all.
XO
Debbie….I loved the comment. It is nice to know that people care and realize that the suspects did this act and not thier parents. Very positive!! :0)
I am so glad these criminals were caught. Like most here I hope they are charged to the fullest. Maybe once they are OFF the streets our community will be a little safer. Hopefully Robert will rest a little better knowing they arent out there to return and hurt him again.
My heart also goes out to the parents that try so hard and then their child ends up doing something like this. I cant imagine how they must hurt too, knowing that one of theirs did this awlful thing. God bless all the innocent people in this situation. I feel most of us will try and help even more with Robert than ever before. In some ways this has brought us closer to him and he may not even know it.
I hope when he returns to his communtity (home) that he doesnt feel overwelmed by all the concern.
Take care Robert…I keep looking for you, just to smile and say hi
Oh for heaven sake. This was never a racial issue with anyone except the few people who decided to make it one here. Reynoldsburg police were never (ever) looking for people of color to blame here, not to mention that Reynoldsburg, like other smaller towns around here…‘target’ whomever they can in order to get revenue. If you want to believe only certain people are labeled, then my son was ‘targeted’ by Reynoldsburg police when he was a teenager just for being young. He had a ticket for window tint being too dark on a car he bought two days prior, a ticket for noise pollution because he sat in Burger King parking lot with his door open and the radio on while waiting for friends inside (and no, it wasn’t cranked but the officer could hear the music more than 20 ft. away because the DOOR WAS OPEN), a ticket for his headlights being too ‘blue’...heck my sister, nephew a friend of his and I were stopped by Reys. police…GUNS DRAWN because they were looking for two teenaged white boys that someone said was walking the neighborhood carrying guns. The boys with us were 11 and 12 and were of course, unarmed. We were hardly being profiled. Just because you notice someone of color being addressed by the police does NOT mean they’re being profiled. I’m guessing it probably means is that many people choose only to take notice when people of color are being addressed.
Bob didn’t deserve this no matter who did it. I’m sure these boys had no idea of the scope of their actions when they did this. They probably thought they could beat a homeless man and no one would care, not to mention that as much as these strong-willed teenagers profess to be independant and capable of handling life far better than us old people can…they are often easily influenced by their friends. If the boy with the most power decided it was a good idea to do this, the others probably trusted his twisted judgement even if they knew it was wrong. That doesn’t make them blameless by any stretch. They’re all at fault and I hope eventually, they will learn the reality of how awful their actions were.
I grew up in Reynoldsburg and they don’t target minorities they are vigilant with all white,black,old and young .
punks are punks no matter what race they come from.
I grew up in Reynoldsburg and was saddened and heartsick when I heard the news about Bob. In the following days I was uplifted when I saw the line out of the hardware store as the community rallied to support him.
Today I am more heartsick as I learn that a young man I know was involved. First and foremost my prayers and concerns are with Bob the victim in this. But also with this kid who I have known for awhile.
I can’t understand why he made the choice that night to hurt such a gentle soul. But this is not an evil kid that spends all his time inflicting pain on everyone. He is from a supportive family whose parents would be first to stand up and help someone in need. I am heartsick for him and his family too. Unfortunately he made a choice he will have to live with for the rest of his life.
To Bob I wish you a speedy recovery and peace in knowing how much the people in Reynoldsburg care about you and your well being.
Reality is cruel and painful, yet if we close blind eyes to it there will never be resolution.
I apologize that I did not mention Bob in the last post. I have talked to him many times on the corner of Main and Lancaster. And I pray that he does come home and feels comfortable being in Reynoldsburg again. He is a very nice person and never bothers anyone. May God bless him, his family and friends, and everyone for that matter. We all need blessings.
Good to see that these so called racial contributers know that all 3 of the suspects are white. I see that this is no longer an issue of race now that people know they are white. I hate the fact that this is the route people take. Human error should be dictated by action and not by race. Also it is a shame that these individuals were out during the time that curfew would be enforced. If they were another race they would have been stopped by Reynoldsburg Police like I have seen so many times in the past while driving home from work. Also from looking on the Franklin County website on the Mike Hutton, he was also in possession of drug paraphernalia. So he is looking at some at least 2 yrs if they don’s lessen that charge and give him probation like they do to so many other non minority offenders. Not trying to bring up any accusations, just stating facts.
I hope they make their parents responsible as well. It would teach them to watch their children a little more closely. Bob never ever deserved this or anything for that matter. He leaves people alone and they should have just left him alone. He is harmless and you know he is loved by alot here in Reynoldsburg. I hope they all rot in **** grrrrrrr
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