He was on his way back to the city of Vallejo's corporation yard to drop off a backhoe. It was twenty minutes after three...Monday afternoon and this 46-year old city employee was driving along on Nebraska Street near Broadway when someone threw rocks at his backhoe. The incident happened less than a half-mile from Vallejo High School.
He drives back to a group of teens and confronts them. There's pushing and shoving. More teenagers run to the growing mob...now numbering close to 40.
"It was kind of loud, yeah", a clerk at a nearby Britton's Mini Mart said. "I could hear it all the way in here."
Then...a number of teens violently attack the city worker...and he's pushed to the ground.
"I saw some kids from the high school running around, just yelling, going crazy!" the clerk, who asked not to be identified, said.
Vallejo police say the teens fractured the man's skull, collarbone and jaw. Some of his teeth were punched out. He was left bleeding on the ground as the suspects stole his wallet and took off. Eventually, people concerned for the victim step in and break up the fight. The victim is in serious condition at an area hospital.
"Watching that video, I am sickened," Ken Shoemaker, vice president of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 2376, said. "I think it's horrific that a city worker in broad daylight could be beaten like that and kicked in front of a large crowd."
Local
The mini mart's surveillance camera caught most of the chaos. Police released the video along with video taken by a bystander's cell phone...hoping someone in the public would recognize one of the suspects or witnesses on tape. Investigators say they have already identified some of the people involved after reviewing the video. Detectives say no one has come forward with any information.
Police have not identified the victim. He's worked twenty years for the City of Vallejo as a heavy equipment operator.
