← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Samuel
Thread ID: 11623 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2003-12-27
2003-12-27 17:09 | User Profile
Two charged in Wal-Mart beating December 27, 2003
BY DAVE NEWBART AND SHAMUS TOOMEY Staff Reporters
Shortly after Lennell Greer was charged Friday with beating two people at a Wal-Mart store in Forest Park on Christmas Eve, Greer's wife lashed out at the victims, saying her husband simply was protecting their daughter.
"A father's love is his crime,'' said the wife, who identified herself as "Mrs. Lennell Greer.'' "What would any man do when a grown man starts something with his 11-year-old, 70-pound daughter?''
One of the victims, a 28-year-old Chicago woman, called that claim "outrageous," saying she and a friend posed no threat but were beat unmercifully with an aluminum baseball bat while a crowd cheered their attackers on.
Earlier Friday, prosecutors charged Greer, 41, of Broadview, and a 15-year-old boy with the attack on Matthew Baures, 22, of Berwyn, and the woman. Both were charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery. Police said the boy struck the victims with the bat, and Greer also hit them.
The beating came after the victims and two female customers exchanged words in the store's check-out line, police said. After leaving, Baures and his friend, who asked that her name not be used, were attacked in the parking lot.
In an interview Friday night at Greer's house, his wife said the initial confrontation was between her daughter, herself and two others in line. Her daughter, she explained, had been sick, and wasn't able to buy Christmas presents until the last minute, including one for her dad, who was waiting in the car.
"I think it's not right because I'm a little girl going Christmas shopping for my father,'' the girl said.
The Greers said they were waiting in two separate lines when the dispute with Baures started. The alleged victims started the confrontation, they said.
Mrs. Greer declined to comment on what happened in the parking lot but said she believes a store video surveillance tape will exonerate her husband and the 15-year-old. She declined to identify the teenager but said he was not her son.
Mrs. Greer noted her husband was picked up by police on Christmas, and her daughter wasn't able to give him his gift.
"From her first Christmas she has never been separated from her father. Never,'' she said. "Now he's incarcerated. Is that what Santa has to bring?''
Lennell Greer remained in a police lock-up Friday pending a bond hearing today.
For his part, Baures said his aches from his injuries -- he was struck in the face, back and ribs -- had improved, but he still hoped to visit a doctor because he was having trouble walking.
His friend said she broke her right pinkie finger when she grabbed an attacker's crotch. She also suffered bruises on her body and welts on her head. She sought care at a hospital and still suffered headaches Friday.
While Baures and the woman believe there were four or five attackers, Forest Park Police Chief Jim Ryan said police arrested the "two major aggressors."
Wal-Mart officials said they were investigating the incident and the actions of their security staff.