Man beaten after being mistaken for a suspected child predator
Kevin Martin says he was just looking to play pool at a local bar in Norco, California, when a man mistook him for a child predator and beat him.
As the two headed outside, another man followed, took out a phone and showed Martin a police sketch. Martin recognized the sketch, it was of a suspect from a May incident in which Corona police said a man with thick glasses, long hair and a mustache made sexual comments to an 11-year-old girl.
Martin — who also has thick glasses, long hair and a mustache — then argued with the man for 20 minutes trying to convince him that he wasn’t the suspect, he said.
Things got violent. Martin was punched and choked, tried to run away and was beaten more, he said.
That’s when Martin pleaded: “If you keep punching me like this, you’re going to kill me.”
Martin made a citizen’s arrest, according to a County of Riverside Sheriff’s Department Order of Arrest. He was issued a notice to appear in court on November 6 to state his case.
Martin runs Southern California Weather Force, a weather alert system with more than 70,000 followers.
“They said ‘Kevin that looks exactly like you,'” Martin said. “I was going to brush it off, but the incident took place about half a mile from my house.”
“Our detectives interviewed him and ruled him out as a suspect,” said Sgt. Chad Fountain, Corona police spokesman. “It’s unfortunate, we didn’t want anything to happen to Mr. Martin. We never named him as a suspect, so it’s unfortunate that this happened to him.”
Martin did say he found it odd he was targeted almost three months later. He said he also hasn’t changed his appearance since getting a haircut in March.
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