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'Young punk' beat senior citizen for money

Posted at 11:03 PM, Feb 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-04 00:19:28-05

CINCINNATI -- Darrel White feels bad about the young man who attacked him Tuesday night.

Not just the physical pain -- he got slugged on both sides of the face and knocked to the ground -- but the sadness and disappointment of a 70-year-old man who says he tries to help people, to cause no trouble, but who someone decided to prey upon anyway.

White was walking on Roe Street near Blaney Avenue in the city's Madisonville neighborhood when a skinny, young man came from behind and jumped him, he said.

The attacker, who White said was between 18 and 25 years old and who he described as a "young punk," demanded money.

"I said I ain't got it, and he just -- 'Pum! Pum!'" White said, recalling the beating he suffered. "Then somebody yelled something, and he took off and ran."

Byron Coaston wasn't the one who yelled, but he heard it. And he saw the attacker run away.

"Darrel's on the ground and he's having a hard time getting up -- he has bad knees -- so I help him up, and he says 'I've been jumped,'" Coaston said.

Coaston called 911, and other neighbors on Blaney rushed to help, too.

White is a fixture in the neighborhood -- "He's this older guy who’s very benign, who walks very slowly" -- so Coaston thinks the young man targeted White believing the senior citizen cashed a check.

"It made me feel pretty bad, because I don't cause nobody no trouble -- and I don’t mean to cause nobody any trouble," White said. "I try to help people, and it seems like certain ones are taking advantage of you helping 'em, take advantage of you."

Witnesses said they saw two men running from the scene; neither has been found or identified.

White is confident they'll face judgment one way or another.

"When God takes his revenge, it'll be coming out with God’s way -- and I know that, because God'll take care of 'em," White said.

And despite his injuries -- some bumps and bruises -- he's grateful.

“It’s unbelievable, but God's been very good to me."