The couple, who wish to remain anonymous so we’ll call them John and Jane, would raise or lower the basketball hoop to fit whomever came by to play, making it easier to use. Around 7:30pm on Monday night, April 11th, as dusk slowly fell, four kids showed up at the back of the house. One was reportedly as young as 10, one was pushing a stroller, and two were older teens. One older teen was wearing a black sweatshirt with a white rectangle, the other older teen in a yellow jacket.
“John went out and adjusted the hoop for them as he often does as a kindness, and got out the basketballs we keep on hand,” Jane said. “He asked them to be sure to stop playing at dark so he could get our daughter to bed without noise. At 9:30 they were still playing, so when my daughter complained about the noise, John went out to ask them to stop.”
Jane says her husband is of slight stature, not an imposing presence and is soft-spoken. He reportedly walked halfway down the stairs to the alley and calmly asked them to wrap it up, as the noise was keeping up his daughter.
John fell or was pulled from the staircase, unconscious, and the kids allegedly proceeded to kick and stomp on him. “He doesn't remember anything after that first punch,” Jane said.
“John is just a very calm guy,” Jane said. “After he asked them to stop playing, the bigger of the teens came at John on the stairs, yelling ‘What did you say to me? Why are you coming at me?’ The boy then rushed John and punched him [in the head].”
John fell or was pulled from the staircase, unconscious, and the kids allegedly proceeded to kick and stomp on him. “He doesn't remember anything after that first punch,” Jane said.
On a video recorded by a neighbor’s security camera, the teens can be heard exclaiming how the video on one of their phones was still on and recording during the assault. “I had my phone still recording!” one boy says. “You ain’t move it?” the other asks. “Yeah,” the first boy responded. (Petworth News verified the audio from the security footage — though the video did not capture the assault.)
While MPD showed up quickly, the responding officers told the couple they shouldn’t have spoken to the teens, but called MPD to remove them.
“The last thing we wanted to do was to call the police on four Black kids playing basketball in an alley,” Jane said. “My husband had already spoken to them, had set up the net for them. Everything seemed fine. Then this attack happened… it just seems so ruthless to attack him, leave him bleeding on the ground as they calmly walked away.”
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