Man Pleads "Not Guilty" in Alleged Knockout Game Attacks

LongIsland.com

Darryl Mitchell is accused of attacking seven individuals in his own neighborhood.

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A North Amityville man was indicted on Tuesday for several alleged “knockout” game attacks on Long Island. 20-year-old Darryl Mitchell is said to have punched all his victims in the head during the day and authorities are saying each attack was unprovoked. Mitchell’s most recent hit was on December 1st.
 
“This is a bad, bad person he deserves nothing but jail time. Who goes about a crime like this? Just hitting unsuspecting people, they do nothing to provoke him, they have no idea what he is going to do, and he hits them in the side of the head,” District Attorney Thomas Spota was quoted as saying to CBS.
 
Two of Mitchell’s targets were over the age of 65. One man, Darrar Jones, suffered from a swollen eye and had to get seven stitches after being hit. The other victim, James Graves, 69, said he was attacked in front of his own home.
 
“It was two punches, there and there,” Graves said to CBS pointing to his left eye and temple.
 
DA Spota says each victim Mitchell has gone after was in his own neighborhood. In each case he landed hits on their heads and faces. Mitchell is accused of hitting a 17-year-old waiting for a school bus, someone waiting for the train on a LIRR platform, a person walking to church, and even a person raking their leaves.
 
“There is no motive, none whatsoever, to these attacks, other than the thrill of the attack and the thrill of hurting someone. That’s it,” Spota said, “and this is wrong.”
 
Authorities say Mitchell acted alone in each instance and is not affiliated with any gangs. His relatives have come out in his defence.
 
“This is not normally him. This is not how he acts,” said Mitchell’s brother, Raymond Jones, to CBS. “He’s been an athlete; he was good in school.”
 
Mitchell has plead not guilty to four counts of third-degree assault and the judge has set bail at $200,000. Prosecutors say he may be involved in two other cases where one of the victims suffered from permanent brain damage. Mitchell’s attorney requests he take a psychiatric exam.
 
“They’re calling it the ‘knockout game,’ and I know that phrase has a lot of buzz these days,” said defense attorney Scott Gross, “but I don’t think that that’s what this is.”
 
[Source: CBS]