UPDATE: The charges against Willie Hodge were dismissed after it was determined that he was not involved in the attack.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland man tried to initiate his 10-year-old son into a gang called the 21st Killas by having him join in a beating last year, prosecutors say.

The victim, David Tompkins, a father of three, is still unconscious in the hospital with a severe head injury. The attack occurred as Tompkins was walking to his home near West 21st Street and Denison Avenue on Nov. 22.

Gabriel Rosado, the father of the 10-year-old, is one of six men indicted in the beating. They are charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, felonious assault and gang activity. Rosado, of Forestdale Avenue, is also charged with child endangering, resisting arrest and failure to comply with police.

Each of the men is being held on $250,000 bail. They are due in court Thursday. Six youths, including the 10-year-old, face charges in Juvenile Court.

Rosado had his son participate "to get his colors in the 21st Killas gang," said Ryan Miday, spokesman for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office.

The 21st Killas are a new group, said community activist and gang-intervention expert Khalid Samad. He suspects it is made up of the younger and newer members of a larger gang operating in the neighborhood.

"It's a 'set,' as the gangs say, a subset assigned to control one street," Samad said.

Tompkins, 31, was chosen at random for the gang initiation rite. He had just gotten out of a friend's car about 9:40 p.m. and was walking the short distance to his home when he was jumped. He was knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked in the head.

Tompkins was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center in a coma and with broken facial bones, Miday said.

Tompkins' sister, Nicole, is upset that neighbors are accused of the beating. "They were our neighbors doing this. They did this to someone they knew. What would they do to a stranger?" she said.

Rosado was arrested within minutes of the assault.

Police said they chased a group of men running from the scene and caught Rosado before he could jump a fence. He swung a 40-ounce beer bottle at an officer, then threw it at him, according to the police report. He went to the ground when the officer pointed a gun at him.

Detectives James Kiefer and Bob Beveridge, Councilman Joe Cimperman and residents worked to identify the remaining suspects, Sgt. Sammy Morris said.

"The community came together, knowing next time, the victim may be you," Morris said.

The other adults charged are Jonathan Kolesar, 22; Alexander Eckl, 22; Ronell Rudolph, 20; Willie Hodge, 19; and Jonah Walker, 20.

Most of them have criminal records, but none are for apparent gang activity.

Hodge was released from jail in December after pleading guilty to attempted drug possession and was given one year's probation. Walker was being sought for a probation violation at the time of the assault on Tompkins. He had pleaded guilty to breaking and entering, theft and receiving stolen property. Rosado pleaded guilty to breaking and entering, theft and aggravated theft in 2008. He was placed on probation.

Plain Dealer reporter Gabriel Baird contributed to this story.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: djmiller@plaind.com, 216-999-4852