I am horrified by this assault. I have just a few comments.

1. Why was this 16-year-old out so late on a school night? I know that I am more traditional, than most Danville parents, but my teenagers have curfews, and I will search out and drag them home if they are late. If I couldn’t control my teenager’s actions, then I would get the appropriate help to take care of it!

2. Children need to be taught to respect all adults, especially police officers! My children have been told multiply times, do not run from police. They are human and can make mistakes when adrenalin is racing. I can only help my children if they are alive! As for this situation, my assumption is that this man (who is a father), probably told them to go home. It doesn’t matter what tone or words he used, these teenagers didn’t respect him…and now they have a bigger consequence than his parents could have ever given for breaking curfew.

3. We all need to be the village and help others. Help parents who are stressed, support children who need it, and be there for your neighbor.

Thank you to the person who called 911, and to the police who arrived and helped this man. Bless this man for a quick recovery. Bless his family who may feel uneasy about this situation. Bless the perpetrator who committed this heinous crime so that he may feel remorse and decide to repent and live a more productive life.

So sad to see so many people passing judgement on a situation they know nothing about. Did you even question why a 39 year old man, allegedly married with 3 kids, would be hanging on at almost midnight by himself instead of being home with his family? Could it be that he was possibly on his way home from a bar? What was his BAC level? These are children in which you are slandering, get all the facts before you play the role of judge and jury.

I agree with Alamo Resident. We know nothing of the situation yet so assuming the teen is the aggressor is a bit premature.

The initial report I saw was that the father was riding his bike home from downtown Danville. By the way, just because one is a father doesn't mean he couldn't have been the aggressor. There is no requirement that one has to be a level headed individual to be a father so you never know.

Marie, I believe the incident occurred this past Saturday just after midnight so while I agree that there is nothing good that can come from teenagers being out after 11:00PM, I wanted to point out that it may not have been a school night.

I can tell you this much, if I found out that my 16 year old son was roaming the streets at midnight, we would have a long and serious conversation.

Sad that it happened at all.

If it was my teenager, I would blame him for being out so late on a school night! We may live in the Danville bubble, but it doesn’t mean a 16-year-old should be out a midnight when adults may be driving or walking intoxicated…I am not saying that is what happened here. The police will determine that.

Everyone should take accountability for their own actions. I’m sure that man is questioning his own actions. I do not want to pass judgment on him because at 39-years-old, he has the right to stay out late and drink. However, the parents of the 16-year-old need to teach right from wrong and control their children.

SC: you are right about the date, I first read about this on Sunday, my mistake. I still stick with my original statement that a 16-year-old should not be out that late roaming the streets. However, I did not say the teenager was the aggressor. I do agree, that being a parent doesn’t mean you make all righteous decisions.

I am still waiting for details as to if this was a teenager gang attack or one-on-one. Either way, it is still a horrible assault.

If you have teens then you should be aware that sleep overs are the biggest game in town, many times when parents think John or Jane are at one home, the next day you find out that they were in a totally different home, out roaming driving throwing eggs, drinking or thinking they are tough because of numbers! I stopped the sleep overs at 12, because too much garbage was going on even in Middle School! Maybe he was on his way home from work (there are many restaurants in our area)as it was announced on the news! What ever the case may be, getting in a physical altercation from either side is one of the lowest forms of human behavior! It seems that SRVHS again gets a black eye for students beating someone (remember several years ago when the student from Walnut Creek was brutally beat). Come on Wolf Nation, lets change the bad vibe, like we have done in the past! KNOW WHO AND WHERE YOUR KIDS ARE, curfew is 11pm!

Alamo Resident (not Alamo Parent):

Seems hypocritical that you are saying “so many people passing judgment”, when it seems you are accusing the victim.

Many people stay out late for business meetings at bars and restaurants when they wish they could be home with their spouse and children…could that be the case here? I don’t know, but seems like you are accusing him of something you don’t “know nothing about”. Was he intoxicated? I don’t know, but seems like you are accusing him. Let the police do their job before YOU judge.

Yes, these are children, and the fact is that this 16-year-old was out late and beat up someone so bad that he had to go to the hospital. Once again, I blame the parents. Instill morals and values at a young age.


Who threw the first punch? I don’t know. But a good and decent human being would never be involved in this. It’s okay to walk away from conflict (if you can). As my first comment stated, my opinion is that the man probably said something to set off the teenagers, but that does not give anyone the right to lay a hand on anyone else!

What's there to know? The "Teenage" beat someone into the hospital. If it were self defense the police would not have arrested him AND the other teen in conjunction. There's no judgement to be passed. This kid should be locked up. HE PUT SOMEONE IN THE HOSPITAL FROM BEATING HIM!!!!! Stop creative parenting. Done and done.. He's violent and needs to be locked up.

The judgment of the 39 year old man is quite clear since he chose to BIKE home after a night out instead of irresponsibly getting in his car and driving. This shows someone that cares about himself and his community. A group of teenagers beat this man and are now crying "we were just minors". They should have thought about that before they beat a man unconscious. Good luck getting into college with a felony on your record. Parents need to be parents and know where there kids are at midnight on a Saturday!! They have iPhone apps to track kids these day for gods sakes, it's not that hard, you just need to CARE.

Basically they are both at fault and nobodies fault but their own. Both parties need consequences for their choices and actions. No matter if someone was out late or riding a bike. Does not matter. Nobody wins in this situation.

Just a question/not meant for controversy. Kara, are colleges/universities allowed to discriminate against applicants with felony records?

In this news clip, Web Link the reporter said the teenager said “he was the first to say something to set off the man”. The teenager also said “we told him we are 16”. Hmm, wonder if he ever heard his parents use that excuse? There are a lot of interesting comments on social media. Hope we learn the real story soon, so that I can use it as another example to teach my children of what to do and not do!

Arlene: a simple web search will give you the answer you are looking for.

Debora.....how can you say both at fault when you don't know what happened. Is it a crime for a man to ride his bike whenever he wishes. Maybe he stopped for a beer and didn't want to drive or maybe he was cooped up in air conditioning all day and wanted a breath of fresh air. Was his crime being out late?who is questioning what 16 year old boys were doing hanging out by school?were they reviewing chemistry or were they drinking or smoking pot. Who knows, but don't condemned this gentleman until facts are brought out. Many Danville teens are not angels.

There is so much speculation here. How about we wait and see what the facts are? This whole thing started with an inflammatory Facebook post by the man's family/friend claiming he was the victim of a vicious, unprovoked attack by a gang of teenagers while on the trail. The post went on to lament how Danville is no longer a safe community. Based on the information provided by the Police, we now know that account is not entirely accurate, and, in fact, that post has now been deleted.

Here are a few things we do know:

1. The man in question was intoxicated (this is from a police source).
2. The altercation was one teen vs. the one man, not a group of teens attacking one man.
3. Whoever or whatever started the altercation, the teen did not try to get away. Instead, the teen's friend admitted on TV that the teen "decked" the man first. He then severely beat the man. That is why he was arrested and charged.
4. For those of you claiming the man was doing the "right thing" if he was biking instead of driving while intoxicated, if the man was in fact biking home while intoxicated, he was breaking the law. It is against the law to bike under the influence. Check out California Vehicle Code Section 21200.5.
5. In most of these comments, there is way too much guessing, accusing, speculating and finger pointing. None of this will help the Danville community or explain what happened. Instead, why not wait for all of the facts to come out from the police investigation. Right now all you are doing is feeding the frenzy started by the initial Facebook post.

I am also agreeing with those that have said that it behooves everyone to wait until all of the facts come out on this. On one of our local TV news stations they played an audio clip from one of the other teens who was present, which did make me question whether there wasn't another side to this story. The details of what started the incident, who said what, and what happened to escalate things, are still very unclear. The gist of what the other kid said was basically that words were exchanged, but that the adult kept advancing on them. Of course, this is coming from a friend of the accused, and must also be taken with several grains of salt. In any case, I don't believe that "whoever was hurt the most" is automatically the victim, at least not totally. There may well be some degree of shared blame to go around... Just my $0.02. Just like the rest of us, I wasn't there.

I have a few comments as well.. I'm the one who actually reported this fight and called the police that night, and it's really upsetting me to see how people without knowing any facts are judging these kids as if they know the whole story. I met these kids that very night so I have absolutely no biased. First off the man was seemingly drunk and the kids were egging him on as 16 year olds sometimes do from across the fence.. However the man got extremely aggressive and went under the fence coming off as if he was about to attack them/getting in their face. The kids told him they were underage and to back off, yet he kept coming up to them. After the fight he later on grabbed a bottle and held it up threatening the kids' lives which is when I took action and called the police because we got scared that HE was going to harm the KIDS. My sister was so distraught by this man's actions that she in fact crashed our car. I personally strongly believe it was the matter of fact that the kid was stronger then the man... If it was the other way around I think the man would of been facing the felony charges. So please think before you speak, because these kids are NOT by any means "thugs" they are NOT in the right by causing this man to result in going to the hospital.. However, they are also a victim.

I completely agree with witness! They saw entire act. It sounds like teens were loud, then adult challenged them and jumped fence to confront them! The adult also challenged kids and threatened to kill them with glass bottle! Teen may have been stronger and able to beat his opponent more, but was not the aggressor! Keep facts straight people!!!!!

Member - obviously there are 2 sides to this story but your assumptions are ridiculous. The adult got beat because the kid was stronger? Beat to the point of broken bones and unconsciousness? That is assault, plain and simple. And assuming the adult would be in jail if he was stronger is another ridiculous assumption.

So now that rumors are spreading, some are inclined to take the side of the perpetrator and call him a victim…Hmm, sounds crazy to me. Teenagers love to talk, so I’m pretty sure I know more and my opinion is the same, I’m just more disgusted. No names, but I would expect more from a De La Salle student!

1. Teenagers loitering where they don’t belong.
2. 16-years-old out at midnight.
3. Teenagers start argument.
4. Boy beats up man so bad, that he ends up in the hospital.

We all know that teenagers make bad choices, but parents need to help guide them, so that when faced with a challenging situation, they may make better decisions. My lesson for my children…

1. Be home at curfew so that you are safe and sound where you belong.
2. If you are late, know that I will find you and your punishment will be big.
3. Never initiate a fight by calling names or making fun of someone.
4. If you can, run to get help if someone is advancing on you and/or threatening you.
5. If someone attacks you, you have the right to protect yourself, but not the right to assault them.

As for the other side of this story, if the man was drunk and aggressive, I’m sure the police will charge him to the fullest extent of the law.

Anonymous, thank you for calling 911 and staying to help. Sorry about your sister.

Come on SRV, we are better than this!

There all wrong, but lucky no one had a gun or knive and could of got killed. If THIS WAS IN Oakland or Richmond these parents would be going to a funeral, Talk to your kids!!

Actually Marie you have a right to defend yourself until the threat to your safety is eliminated. If the guy kept getting up and coming after the kid (Which it appears he did) the kid had every right to keep the adult from attacking him.

If the guy broke the bottle and came after the kid (Deadly Weapon) the kid has a right to go as far as to kill him. I'm sorry if you don't like it, turning your back on an assailant is a good way to get hit from behind, stabbed in the back, shot in the back.

This "Gentleman" is a well known local who frequents the downtown bars gets obnoxious/violent, argues with others, hardly an angelic victim.. There was another strand on the Danville/SanRamon site, it was taken down because people who knew this guy started airing all of his/ his supporter's dirty laundry! Small Town, people in glass houses and all..

If an adult can't handle the words of a child to the extent he goes out of his way to aggressively approach them, then this guy has no business freely walking the streets. I hope he is charged for his crimes and receives some accountability for his actions!