My dad was attacked, what should he do? What can I do?

Question

My dad was struck with a basketball to the side of his head inside the YMCA, was knocked over, glasses knocked off, and lost hearing due to the severity of the hit.
The kid that hit him was african-american, my dad is an old guy whose health isn't what it used to be. Couldn't this be assault? I told him he should report it to the police, but he doesn't like causing strife, and doesn't want to be seen as discriminatory since the kid who threw it was black. The accuraccy of the attack suggests it was intentional. What should he do?

let me elaborate a bit more... My father lives in another state, I can't go gunning for vengeance, even if that was my style. He does believe it was intentional. I don't control my father, but i'm trying to provide him with advice to work with.

Answer 1

Your Dad was assaulted, being attacked with a deadly weapon. Who cares what race he is- I would file a police report, and give a copy to the YMCA's director.

Consider this- by NOT reporting the incident, this person is going to attack other people- does your Dad want this on his conscious?

This person who intentionally did this, needs to be locked up- good Luck

Answer 2

This could be not only assault, this is aggravated assault (the most serious kind). That is of course if it didn't happen during a baseball game and the kid was swinging for a ball. It is not the accuracy that would suggest it was intentional. Did it happen in the locker room and the kid was "fooling around"? Was it an out of the blue attack for no reason? It all depends on the circumstances. Your question suggests that it was made to look like an accident. Were there other witnesses? Does your Dad think it was on purpose? If he does then he should contact the police. I would suggest the same actions no matter what colour the kid was.

Answer 3

oh please, this is really silly. there is no way to prove that it was intentional unless someone else saw the kid throw it in your father's direction AND you can prove it was intended to hit him (which would require a motive as well). otherwise, there is nothing you can or should do. he next to the court, any reasonable person would know that they are at some risk for getting hit by a ball, meaning that unless the ball was intended to hit your dad he is actually the one at fault here. no this could not be assault unless you can prove the kid meant to hit him, which is going to be nearly impossible. it's too bad that your dad got hurt, but that's life, and it's not assault and it's not a crime. and by the way, just saying that the "attack" was accurate is pretty silly, considering that you don't know it was intentional (an attack requires intent), and the hit being accurate would require knowing that it was intended to hit your dad in the first place.
the only reason to go to the police would be if you or your dad have something solid that would lead you to believe it was intentional, something like evidence. just being suspicious and not having any evidence means that the police are going to pretty much ignore this. and to all the people who seem to already have convicted this kid on hearsay, maybe you should all go find this kid and string him up just to be sure

Answer 4

Honestly if it were myself I would wait for the guy to be alone, and this is to any guy not just because he is black do not get me wrong. I would wait until he is alone, then walk up to him kick him in his nuts and tell him that if he ever hit my dad again that he would not see the light of day from that point on. I know immature! The smart part of me would report it to the police and tell them your situation and that you are concerned about your father safety and your own and that you would like to file a report. After you have filled out the report with the officer there look him or her into their eyes with a straight face no retarded smirk and say I would like this issue to be addressed within a reasonable amount of time and that you appreciate they're time and to have a good night, day, Etc.

Answer 5

This is the 21st century. Race should not play a factor here. Your dad was seriously injured and the severity of the injury wouldn't change if the attacker were white, Hispanic, Asian, or Martian. Unfortunately race will rear its ugly head. But your Dad's civil rights (that's right, folks, Dr. King's civil rights extends to whites too) were violated and he was injured. There's the criminal acts of assault and battery, and the civil wrong of your Dad's injury as a result of the attack. Go to the police. Have the punk arrested.

Answer 6

At first thought, this sounds to me like it was most likely an accident, accurate or not. However, you seem to have reason to believe it was on purpose. If this is in fact the case the kid needs to be severly punished so he learns not to attack people. In addition, you could file a civil suit to cover medical bills and pain and suffering.

Whether this was purposeful or accidential, your father may still be entitled to compensation for his medical bills and pain and suffering from the YMCA. The YMCA has insurance for situations when members get injured on their property. If you are interested in persuing this route, you will need to contact a lawyer.

Answer 7

He files a report with the YMCA, he files a police report

he sues the person who hit him with the ball for any medical bills

He is being discriminotory by not filing against him, so he would file a police report on a white person, but not a black person, what happened to equal rights. This is rasicm at its worst. allowing bad behavior because of race

Answer 8

Fear keeps most older americans from prosecuting. I have found that if you do prosecute, you have less problems in the future because word gets around that your willing to stand up, complain and go to court to back up your complaint. I am white and live in a mostly black area. I respect my neighbors and they respect me, but if one of them intentionally struck me with an object, I'd be the first to prosecute and they know this. They in turn would also prosecute me if I was wrong. Race would have nothing to do with my decision, it would just be the right thing to do. No one should assault another person without cause. You can encourage your father and talk to him about options, but in the end it is his decision since he's the one who would have to go to court and testify.

Answer 9

Did anyone else see it happen? You could help your dad by going down to the Y and talking to the person in charge about what happened. Maybe someone can back your dad up, or you can gather some information that might help him.

Whether or not this would be considered assult depends on the situation, but based on your description he should definitely take action and talk to the police.

Answer 10

Have him see a doctor immediatly, before further damage is done. Maybe he can sue YMCA, or something. Explain to the doctor's what happened and see what they say. I highly doubt a black male or a white male playing basketball meant to hit your father. When you are on the court there are no rules always remember that. Take care