Man Accused In Racially-Motivated Attack Now Faces Witness Intimidation Charges
BLOOMFIELD (KDKA) - A man facing charges for a racially-motivated attack in Bloomfield now faces new charges of intimidating witnesses.
John Nash Jr., 47, of Lawrenceville, was arrested last month for charges of aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation.
According to the Post-Gazette, the criminal complaint says Nash and Anthony Hartman yelled racial slurs at Reggie Smith and proceeded to beat him. Smith was waiting for a bus at the time.
A 16-year-old attempted to intervene and was kicked in the back, body and head. He was treated at the hospital for a possible concussion. The Post-Gazette says Smith, who was hit several times in the head, refused medical treatment.
The two men are also accused of spitting and using an ethnic slur on Samuel Jowel at the Sunoco gas station on Penn Avenue in Bloomfield.
The Post-Gazette says according to the criminal complaint filed yesterday against Nash, he called his uncle Ronald Conner from jail to see whether he had spoken to Jowel. "I can't have Jowell testify," Nash told Conner.
The complaint went on to say Conner went to the Sunoco on Penn Avenue and asked to see surveillance video of the incident. During that visit, employees say Conner told them to tell Jowel to keep his mouth shut and not testify in the case.
The complaint went on to say Nash asked Conner to give the father of the teen who was beaten $3,000 to not show up in court.
Nash's new charges include several counts of intimidating a witness.
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