DART Passenger Jumped, Beaten After Asking Group To Stop Smoking
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – A Dallas Area Rapid Transit passenger was ganged up on and beaten after asking a group of people to stop smoking pot on the train late Sunday night.
It happened on a Northbound Green Line train near the Deep Ellum Station.
DART spokesman Mark Ball said five males and two females started to spit and hit victim Kennan Jones after he complained.
"Everything just went from 0 to 100," said Jones, who is grateful to have survived. "I'm just very happy to be here... happy to hug my kids."
The two minute and 30 second cell phone video (see above) captured at the tumultuous scene, shows the group follow Jones as he attempted to get away. They continually hit, kick and punch him, seemingly without remorse. Two more men jump in on the brawl. Toward the end of the footage, Jones was hit with a skateboard in the head -- first by one of the men, then again by one of the women. He was helpless, lying on the ground when they delivered the potentially fatal blows.
Jones said it was at that point he started to black out.
"I actually said, 'OK, OK. Y'all win.' "
Jones was transported to Baylor Hospital just after midnight but refused to press charges. While he is upset with his attackers, he's also irritated with the driver of the train.
"To me, they saw enough to be, to stop that moment and say, 'We're not going nowhere until police come,' " said Jones.
Ball said a dispatcher saw the fight on the platform's camera and called police. Officers showed up within 10 minutes. However, Ball said it's unclear if the DART driver witnessed the fight.
"I'm so sorry it happened to him and I apologize for that," said Ball.
While DART statistics show that crime is up, Ball said ridership and population is also up. He feels that DART is often caught between manpower and funding.
"For him to have stood up for DART and our policies and then to be hurt by that is a tragedy," said Ball.
Jones said he would like to see increased security, but he has no regrets.
"What it did make me see is that we as a human race, we should care about each other more," said Jones.
DART also pointed out that the two men who jumped in on the platform are wearing orange uniforms with name tags that resemble those worn by Whataburger workers.
A spokesperson said the burger chain is investigating but could not comment any further.
Anyone with information pertaining to the case is asked to call DART police at 214.928.6300.
CBS11 reporter Jeff Paul contributed to this report.