Cops: 'Cowards' film beating of man with cerebral palsy

Bill Laitner | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Pontiac assailants film beating of man with disability Editor's note: Audio has been removed due to vulgar language. The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office released video of two youths who were charged Tuesday with the beating of a 23-year-old Pontiac man who suffers from cerebral palsy.

Documented in some of the most graphic videos ever released by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, two youths were charged Tuesday with the vicious beating of a 23-year-old Pontiac man who has cerebral palsy.

In the video — filmed by the man’s attackers and posted on their Facebook page, according to police — the victim can be seen lying on the concrete floor of an apartment building’s stairwell while his assailants kick and pummel him while shouting profanities and calling him the "n" word.

"Preying on those in our community who suffer from disabilities will not be tolerated and furthermore, to have the audacity to post their actions on the victim’s page is beyond belief," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a statement, adding: "I am proud of the deputies at the Pontiac substation and the excellent investigative work that was completed in order to bring these two cowards to justice."

According to police, deputies responded to the Phoenix Place Apartments at 8:30 a.m. Monday, after a caller said an injured man was lying in front of the building. Officers determined that the victim "was robbed of his cell phone while he was inside his apartment and, after following the assailants, he was beaten by them inside a stairwell," said a news release from Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe.

"Detectives learned that the suspects had filmed the assault using the victim's cell phone and then proceeded to post the video to the victim's Facebook page as well as their own personal pages," McCabe said in the release. Hours after the beating, police arrested the suspects and the pair was arraigned Tuesday in 50th District Court in Pontiac, McCabe said.

Authorities have not released the name of the victim, but Frankie Santana, a resident at the complex, told WJBK-TV that he was the man who was assaulted.

"Why would they do that and put it on Facebook? That's how you are going to get caught real quickly," Santana said.

Santana said the men spit and stomped on him, injuring an eye, but that "nothing is broke." He said he had seen one of the men before. Investigators say they believe they followed someone to get inside the building and then walked into the victim's unlocked apartment.

"I crawled through the hallway and knocked on someone's door and that's how I got help," Santana told the TV station.

Nikey Dashone Walker and Shadeed Dontae Bey, both 20 and residents of Pontiac, were charged with home invasion, unarmed robbery and assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder; and Judge Michael Martinez assigned $25,000 cash bonds to each, McCabe said. Walker has a prior conviction for auto theft and Bey for larceny, trespassing, possession of stolen goods, resisting police and a drug charge, McCabe said in his release. If convicted, they could be sent to prison for 10 years.

The men didn't yet have lawyers on record to comment on the case, according to a check of 50th District Court records on Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this story. Contact Bill Laitner: blaitner@freepress.com or 313-223-4485.