Posted on 07/15/2005 11:27:28 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Pain has become a companion for Rafael Diaz Jr. Whether he is asleep or wide awake, he can't escape it.
"There is a tremendous amount of pressure around my eye," he said. "During the middle of the night it is hard because the pain is so sharp. And when I wake up in the morning, I keep asking myself, 'Why did they do this to me?' "
It has been about two weeks now, and no one really knows why a group of teenagers and young adults ambushed Diaz's tanker truck off of Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway while he was on his way to an early-morning fuel delivery. Two people have been arrested in the attack.
What is known is that the savagery of the act has left Diaz physically and emotionally scarred for life.
"My whole life has changed," he said. "This was a group of people who had bad intentions."
Diaz's mother, Evelyn Wilson, has been taking care of him since the attack, making sure he takes his medicine and gets rest, which has been hard. The night before, he woke up screaming.
"I don't know what words to use, because I am so angry inside," Wilson said at her Dallas, Ga., home. "I just try each day to be spiritually strong."
The right side of Diaz's head is shaved, revealing a hook-like scar that begins at his ear and ends above his eye, which doctors are hopeful he will see out of again.
"I am upset that people would actually do what they have done," Diaz said. "I'm just a human being. It was like these people were heartless."
In the early morning of July 5, Diaz said he and another trucker each picked up fuel in Powder Springs to deliver to Newnan. About 2 a.m., Diaz made his way to Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway.
"As I approached to make a right on [Hollowell], I see a huge group on my right-hand side," he recalled. "They had made a makeshift roadblock out of chunks of cinderblock. The next thing I know, it was like a meteor shower."
Diaz said that, as he was driving about 35 mph, rocks and fireworks started raining down on him. He said someone threw a smoke bomb into the cab of his truck. Then came the bottle rocket, which hit him on his right temple and exploded.
"The bottle rocket startled me. It was so overwhelming. I didn't know what to think."
He said he made an abrupt turn to the left. The tanker, filled with 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel, jumped the curb and skidded on its side.
"I just remember the truck sliding down the embankment. The sound of screeching metal," said Diaz, grateful that this was a day he wasn't hauling gasoline or jet fuel. "I tried my hardest to bring it back to the road."
When the truck came to a crashing stop, Diaz saw blood everywhere. And he could smell the raw fuel, although there was no major spill.
"There was a large shard of metal sticking out of my head," he said. "When I reached to touch it, I could hear it inside my head."
The accident and the pain disoriented him, and the blood made it hard for him to see. At least that is what he assumed. "I could feel my eye resting on my cheekbone," Diaz said.
He estimates that there were between 20 and 30 people around the accident.
"You would think that once they saw the catastrophe, they would have taken off — or helped me," Diaz said. Neither happened.
He tried to climb head-first out of the passenger-side window, but couldn't. He cried for help.
"I was screaming," Diaz said. "When I would scream, they were mocking me. Taking it as a joke. It sounded like they were partying. They started banging on the truck."
Still trying to get out, he said he could hear someone kicking out the driver's-side windshield and yelling for him to get out. But, fearing that he could damage his eye further by crossing over the glass, Diaz asked them to help him get out the other window.
"Before I could finish my sentence, someone pulled my leg and pulled me out of the front windshield. Dragging me out on my ass."
Resting on his hands and knees, he pleaded for help. But he said the crowd still mocked him and beat on the truck. He said someone kept slapping him in the back of the head, "like a dog." Others patted him down. Someone stole his wallet.
"One person had a flashlight. He was flashing me with it in the face. When I looked up, he gasped when he saw me. He had my wallet in his hand."
Diaz said he snatched his wallet and again started yelling for help.
"The guy with the flashlight said, 'If you don't shut the [expletive] up, we will [expletive] up that [expletive] eye of yours. I kept thinking, 'Why isn't anyone helping me?' "
At that point, Diaz said a young woman came to him and told him to calm down, "because I was gonna get the wrong people over here." He said the woman started telling him that Jesus would protect him.
"I didn't want to hear that. I wanted to get out of there."
Police believe the person who held the flashlight is a 16-year-old they now have in custody, charged with robbery and terrorist acts and threats, for allegedly taking the wallet, which Diaz said contained $800. Anthony Boyd Jr., 18, was also arrested for allegedly throwing the bottle rocket and released on $1,000 bond.
Diaz said he believes the woman was part of the group that initially attacked his truck and had seen enough of the attack.
No other arrests have been made — which rankles Diaz. "There were 20 to 30 teens out there, and they only got one?" he said.
Atlanta police spokeswoman Sylvia Abernathy said the investigation is ongoing and that more arrests could be made.
"But we are confident that the two suspects we have identified contributed directly to Mr. Diaz's accident and the injuries he sustained," Abernathy said, adding that Boyd, the 16-year-old and eyewitnesses have continued to give them information. "APD is working hard to identify any other suspects."
Paramedics arrived and took Diaz to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he underwent more than seven hours of surgery. Doctors had to rebuild his eye socket and cheekbone. He will go through months, if not years, of rehabilitation. If his eye doesn't heal, he will not be able to drive commercial trucks anymore.
Yet he only wants answers.
"If I could get to get those guys, I would ask them why did they do this? What were your intentions? What was going through your mind?" he said. "I want them to look me in the face and tell me they are sorry. Tell me why. That is all I want."
I hope they get the max. Guys in Fed Prison are just looking for new prom queens.
Guess what? Animals are rarely sorry. That's why we put them down when they get out of control.
"Anthony Boyd Jr., 18, was also arrested for allegedly throwing the bottle rocket and released on $1,000 bond."
Released? The entire crowd ought to be rounded up and shot.
My jaw dropped too.
"The bottle rocket startled me. It was so overwhelming. I didn't know what to think."
And you two were saying bottle rockets are harmless...
It's time to bring back the Circus Maximus!
Thanks for helping me find the other bottle rocket thread. You left out some folks.
WTF? I really thought this might have been a story inside Iraq.
They were lying in wait.
It sounds like they have no fear of rules or police.
Nor do they have fear of condemnation by their families, friends, or neighbors. The entire community is guilty.
By the way, wanna take any bets on which state our one defendant went to after he bonded out? Too many idiots in robes loose in American courts.
Yes. This didn't happen in a vacuum.
The entire community is guilty.Yup. The group's individual "street cred" is now off the charts. And of course, few, if any, will be turned in by their community. A community that loathes law and its enforcement yet complains about the @#$% in which they choose to wallow as a result.
Seems like if that particular community wants to change, there's going to need to be change from the inside. Any day now ....
That is absolutely insane. I remember watching with horror of the riots after the Rodney King verdict.I was shocked, horrified and feeling completely useless as I watched those young evil men(boys)when they pulled the truck driver from his cab and then savagely beat him.
Nah...nobody messes with bottle rockets here.
(These little punks in this story are welcome to come here and act as human shields, though.)
Until I saw the picture of one of the perps, I assumed it was the Ku Klux Klan attacking Mr. Diaz because of his Spanish heritage. (/sarcasm)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.