North Baltimore boy to be charged in vehicular assault

6/1/2007

BOWLING GREEN A 17-year-old North Baltimore boy is to be charged with delinquency in connection with vehicular assault and driving with a suspended license stemming from a May 7 incident in which another teen was thrown from the trunk of his car and seriously injured.

Tim Atkins, an assistant Wood County prosecutor, said this morning that he would be filing the charges this afternoon in Wood County Juvenile Court. If convicted, the youth could be committed to the Ohio Department of Youth Services for six months or until he turns 21.

Antorian "Tori" Cobb, 17, of North Baltimore was injured following an argument outside his George Street home. Mr. Atkins said the suspect was leaving the scene when young Cobb got on the trunk of the vehicle and then was thrown off as the other youth drove away in a reckless manner.

"I would view it as a step above horse play," Mr. Atkins said.

The incident was initially portrayed by some witnesses as a hate crime because young Cobb is African-American and the suspect is white, but Mr. Atkins said he found no evidence to support that. He said the youths gathered at the scene were known to each other.

"In essence it was an argument amongst peers," he said. "I don t know how to characterize if they were once friends, once associates, once acquaintances. It s hard for me to pin down what level it was."

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