Teen-Aged Hooligans Attack 64-Year Old Bicyclist In Broad Daylight On Monon Trail During Weekend Of Violence

Mayor Greg Ballard arrived back in town from his 10-day junket to Australia to learn that senseless crime in Indianapolis is getting worse. A 64-year old man was attacked while bicycling on the Monon Trail yesterday afternoon. Police are also investigating two separate shootings that left one man dead and another in critical condition and another possible homicide victim at the scene of a house fire. In another instance, a liquor store clerk shot and killed a would-be robber. The Star has more on the Monon Trail attack:

A 64-year-old man was sent to the hospital with multiple injuries after he was attacked Sunday while riding his bike on the Monon Trail on the Near Northside.

Police received a report of a person assaulted shortly before 12:30 p.m. in the 2100 block of the Monon Trail. Officers found James Knapp, Indianapolis, bleeding from his head, left arm and left leg. He told police he wasn't sure what happened and only remembered riding south on the trail, according to an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report.

A security guard at a nearby church told police he heard a loud noise and saw three male teenagers on bicycles hurrying away from the trail. The three bicycles were red and black, red and silver, and black and yellow, the report said.

Two of the suspects were wearing white T-shirts and black shorts, and the last one's wearing a purple T-shirt and black shorts, the report said.
 

As I reported last Friday, the Ballard administration has warned some councilors to expect layoffs of police unless the City-County Council goes along with his plan to eliminate the homestead property tax credit as a way of finding an additional $8 million to close a $50 to $60 million budget deficit the city is facing next year. Police numbers are already down three hundred despite a 65% increase in the county option income tax approved five years ago to provide more funding for public safety, including the hiring of 100 additional police officers.