Hate crime?

Good Samaritan helps man beaten by teenagers

ACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Good Samaritan speaks out about how she and her fiancé helped a man being beaten by teenagers on the Northside.

A witness who does not want to reveal her identity for fear of her safety says Friday night she was driving down Soutel Drive near Lem Turner Road with her fiancé and saw a group of teenagers beating a man.

"We seen a whole bunch of African-American kids you know, beating and stomping on an elderly Caucasian guy and he had bags and everything, he couldn't even defend himself because it was so many kids," said the anonymous witness.

The witness says she immediately dialed 911 and turned around to go help the man.

"Between 10 or 15 kids it could have been more because they just scattered like ants when we came back around," said the witness.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office report identified the victim as 56-year-old Peter Richard Lockhart. He was transported to Shands for abrasions on his left wrist and face. The witness says Lockhart told her that he had just gotten off the city bus and was going home with his groceries.

The victim told police that he was approached from behind and was beaten with a stick, the witness says at one point he was just laying flat on the ground and almost looked like he had crawled out to the road where people could see him.

The witness says she feels brave and She and her fiancé say if they had to do it all over again, they still would have stopped despite the risks.

"If you see something like this help someone out because that could have been you, that could have been one of your family members, your father or one of your grandfathers how would they feel if someone out there was beating their grandmother or grandfather, what goes around comes around," added the witness.

As of early Saturday evening, Shands hospital staff members reported Lockhart to be in stable condition.

The police says there were two other incidents in the area within the same time frame that match the description of the suspects. The report says an air unit was dispatched to search the area but did not find the suspects.

Anyone with any information about this incident or the other two is asked to call First Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS (8477).