Six Teens Attacked Man Because ‘They Were Just Bored,’ Police Say

Pat Mahaney was walking home Saturday with a six-pack of beer, looking forward to a quiet evening watching sports, when something hit him in the back of the head.

“The next thing I knew I woke up on my neighbor’s front step and the life squad was there,” said the 45-year-old North College Hill resident.

Six teenagers, who according to a police report “were just bored and were looking for something to do,” ambushed Mahaney from behind as he turned off Simpson Avenue onto Dallas Avenue. He was immediately knocked unconscious.

“I don’t remember anything,” Mahaney, 45, said as he recovered this morning at his mother’s home. “I was walking home from the store — and bam.”

It was probably a blessing he was knocked out during the worst of the brutal attack — one of the teens even grabbed a can of beer and hurled it at his head.

The boys, ages 13 and 14, face felony charges of aggravated riot and felonious assault.

The sixth and final suspect was arrested Tuesday. {snip}

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When police rounded most of the teens up, took them back to the police station and questioned them, they admitted Mahaney had done nothing to provoke being kicked and punched repeatedly in the face while he was helpless on the ground.

The boys told police they only stopped assaulting Mahaney when a neighbor began yelling at them and said he was calling police.

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Mahaney was taken to Mercy Mt. Airy Hospital, where he was treated for four days before being released Tuesday. He suffered so many internal injuries that doctors had to insert a tube down his throat to remove all the blood from his stomach.

A tube remains in his right nostril as blood continues to seep out of his head, and his left eye is heavily blackened.

The attack couldn’t come at a worse time. He has no health insurance and has been unemployed for “years,” he said.

He is looking for factory work but with the economy slow, jobs are almost impossible to come by, he said. Now, his job search is delayed while he recovers.

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“It was a heinous crime but it was not a hate crime,” said North College Hill Police Chief Gary Foust of the teens, who are all black.

He said several residents have called police inquiring if Mahaney was specifically targeted because he is white. He was not, the chief stressed.

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“They were pretty arrogant in the interview with us,” Foust said. “It’s appalling. I think it’s despicable. This appears to be premeditated and there was no remorse on behalf of any of the assailants. Thirteen-year-olds ought to be playing basketball, not running the streets looking for ways to entertain themselves at the expense of somebody.”

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