A happy ending to this story
4 Arrested In Beating Of Man With Cerebral Palsy
Police Say Accused Assailants Stole Speech-Generating Device
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- Authorities arrested four people in the beating of a man who has cerebral palsy, according to officials with the Redlands Police Department.
Investigators said the suspects beat Steven Kile, who uses a wheelchair, and stole a lit-writer -- a speech-generating device. The attack Sunday occurred at Kile's apartment on a street near Interstate 10 in the city of Redlands.
The victim's friend Kathy Sulsona fielded calls Monday from outraged friends, who had just learned the man many simply know as "Steven" was the victim of a ruthless crime. Friends said the 29-year-old Redlands man is extremely intelligent, but is confined to a wheelchair with cerebral palsy and unable to talk.
Sulsona said Kile, who is not able to say 'Who is it?,' opened the door late Sunday night when three masked intruders charged their way inside Kile's tiny apartment on New York Street.
"They punched, kicked and pulled him out of his wheelchair. One of the men was armed with a knife, all three men were wearing ski masks," said Carl Baker with the Redlands Police Department.
The one-bedroom apartment was ransacked for valuables.
"There's nothing here, the computer is about four years old, worth maybe $25 at most. A few cheap cameras, the VCR, the DVD, Direct TV box, none of that is worth anything," said Sulsona.
Police said the intruders took those items and perhaps his most valuable possession, a lit-writer -- a speech-generating device that attaches to his computer.
"He lives on Social Security only. That's all he has, so what he has is what he's worked hard for, scraped together or friends have donated to him so he could live out on his own and feel safe. Obviously, he wasn't," said Sulsona.
Kile used sign language to describe the attack to his brother.
"The first one asked for a cup of sugar," Chris Kile said. "As he turned around, the other three burst in behind him."
Sister Erica Guillian said Kile's face was swollen and bloody when she visited him later that night at a hospital.
"What bothered me most was this whole side of his face had somebody's shoe print imprinted on the side of his face," Guillian said.
Authorities said the attackers met Kile through the Web site Craigslist.com. The site has bulletin boards that can be used for social networking.
Police said two Riverside men and two juveniles were arrested. The adults were identified as 21-year-old Richard Lance McGee and 20-year-old Seyyed Hadi Mirlohi.
"We want him to be able to go back to his apartment, and we want any person with disabilities that make them vulnerable to feel safe in this city," said Capt. Tom Fitzmaurice.
The case was referred to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Hate Crime Division for possible charges in addition to the home invasion robbery charges.
NBC4 reported that Kile is staying with relatives.
Posted by Valkyre at April 25, 2007 10:56 PM