A man reportedly suffered a head injury after he was beaten by teenagers with skateboards Tuesday afternoon at Esther Short Park.
Vancouver police responded to the downtown park at about 4:20 p.m., emergency dispatch logs show.
A volunteer at the park confronted several teenagers who were moving an A-frame sign. The teens yelled at the volunteer, and another man intervened, according to police spokeswoman Kim Kapp.
Five teen boys beat the man who intervened with their skateboards, Kapp said. His injuries appeared to be not life-threatening, she said.
According to a GoFundMe created by a woman who helped the injured man prior to police arriving, the man needed eight staples in his head, along with treatment for other injuries. The fundraiser states the man was an advocate for the homeless community.
“Numerous people came rushing, including myself, but it was people pulling out their phones to call 911 and record the incident that prompted the teens to skate off. But not before the ringleader took one last punch at the guy’s face,” the woman’s fundraiser states.
Investigators are continuing to try to identify the suspects, and they have not made any arrests, according to Kapp.
The fundraiser can be found at gofund.me/2ee0e64b.
