Posted on September 30, 2015

Off-Duty Army Captain Beaten Senseless by 6 Men Outside KC Restaurant

DeAnn Smith, KMOV (Kansas City), September 29, 2015

An active member of the U.S. Army was viciously beaten by a group of six young men outside a Country Club Plaza area restaurant, and Kansas City police haven’t made any arrests.

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The 37-year-old Army caption suffered a significant loss of blood after he suffered numerous broken bones in his face, possible optic nerve damage to one of his eyes and a skull fracture. The man’s injuries were serious, according to a Kansas City police report.

The man was off duty and not in uniform when he was beaten. He was hospitalized for more than a week, but by Monday was back at Fort Leavenworth where he is getting additional treatment. The captain who is a combat veteran is stationed at Fort Leavenworth.

mSgt. Kari Thompson of the Kansas City Police Department said Friday that the injured an accidentally bumped into another man inside the restaurant, which is at 620 W. 48th St.

The man bumped tried to start a fight, and restaurant management kicked him out.

About 12:10 a.m. Sept. 19, the soldier walked out of the restaurant and the man he bumped and a gang of his buddies were waiting for him because they were “looking for a fight,” according to a Kansas City Police Department report.

A witness said the suspect sucker punched the soldier. The gang then began to punch and kick the prone man.

Friends of the soldier heard the fight and tried to rush to his aid. Two of them were kicked and punched, which required paramedics to treat them at the scene. A fellow Army captain who rushed to help his friend was punched in the face with a closed fist. A second man suffered a bloody nose and mouth.

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The brutal attack has stirred outrage on social media in part because the victim and his friends are white while the attackers were young black men in their mid to late 20s.

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