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Police: Man Attacks St. Pete Homeless People In Food Line

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TBO.com

Published: July 30, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - A group of homeless people waiting in line for food outside city hall Tuesday night beat unconscious a man who had attacked two of their group for no apparent reason, St. Petersburg police said.

The man was incoherent and could not be identified, St. Petersburg police spokesman George Kajtsa said.

He was taken to Bayfront Medical Center to be treated for his injuries, then transported to the Pinellas County Jail.

At roughly 10 p.m., the homeless people were waiting to be fed by a church group when the unknown man came up on them and began yelling and screaming at them, Kajtsa said.

He punched one homeless man, Richard Gibson Jr. , 24, and left, Kajtsa said. The assailant then returned with a one-foot-long stick when another homeless person, Jessica Freeman, 36, told him to leave, the spokesman said.

The man then hit her in the head as she was trying to call police on a cell phone, Kajtsa. That's when the crowd beat the man and held him until police arrived, Kajtsa said.

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