.Posted today
.CBS news, posted 10 am Sept 6, 2016:
FOLSOM (CBS13) – State park police are asking for the public’s help in catching the men who beat a cyclist unconscious for no reason. It happened Monday afternoon on the south side of Lake Natoma, just west of the Natoma Crossing Bridge.
It was Labor Day, and a lot of people out at the lake when two kayakers saw a man being attacked on shore and went to help.
“I’ve been coming out here year-round and I never feel unsafe,” said Mark Jackson, a paddle boarder.
Jackson loves to paddle in the calm and peaceful waters of Lake Natoma but avoids coming to Negro Bar on holidays.
“Everyone wants to get together and have a good time and there’s usually alcohol, so things can get a little unpredictable,” he said.
Just after 3 p.m., state park authorities got a call about an assault on a cyclist who was resting near the shoreline.
He was napping and reportedly woke up to loud music. That’s when he was assaulted.
“He was awakened by five to six males and two females in the group. He asked if they could turn the radio down,” said Eric Dales, a California State Parks spokesperson.
Park police call it an especially brutal attack on the 67-year-old man.
“They ended up hitting them over the head with a bottle and doing some damage to his face and he was knocked unconscious,” said Dales.
Two witnesses called 911 and went to help.
“There were some kayakers on the Lake Natoma who saw the commotion went over and yelled stop!” said Dales.
The suspects ran off, but authorities have released a description of the suspects.
Dale describes the suspects as “six-foot-tall Caucasian male with a diamond stud earring in his nose and a 5 foot 5 Asian or Hispanic male.”
Witnesses report hearing the two women in the group begging the suspects to stop.
Park police urge anyone with information about the crime to call state park police or Folsom police.
“I’m not sure why they went after him. He was minding his own business,” said Dales.
Park police are asking anyone who may have seen the suspects or have information on this case contact state park or Folsom police.
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