Posted on 12/28/2003 8:33:16 AM PST by Cubs Fan
Man accused of beating at Wal-Mart posts bail
December 28, 2003
BY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter Advertisement
A Broadview man said Saturday he "was trying to protect my kids'' during an incident in which he was charged for allegedly assaulting two people on Christmas Eve at Wal-Mart.
Lennell Greer made his comments after posting 10 percent of a $10,000 bond set Saturday at Cook County Circuit Court in Maywood.
During the hearing, prosecutors alleged Greer and a 15-year-old boy assaulted a man and woman with a baseball bat after a dispute over a place in line at the Forest Park Wal-Mart.
The victims were "punched, kicked and beaten with a baseball bat while they lay on the ground,'' Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Sandra Blake said. She also said Greer gave a written statement admitting involvement in the incident, which has attracted national attention.
But Greer's attorney, Samuel Adam, as well as several relatives painted a different picture of Greer and the incident. They said Greer has been married for 16 years, lived in Broadview for 11 and worked for the same trucking company for five. "He is a family man,'' Adam said.
Adam asked the judge to preserve security videotapes from Wal-Mart. He claims the tapes will show the victims in the case, 22-year-old Matthew Baures of Berwyn and a 28-year-old Chicago woman, started the fight by trying to cut in line in front of Greer's 11-year-old daughter and hitting her with a shopping cart -- charges Baures denies.
They also said Wal-Mart security scolded Baures for the fight inside -- which Baures does not dispute.
Greer's wife contends Baures and his companion continued the argument outside the store, where Lennell Greer was waiting for his family. But Adam admits "no [physical] threats'' were made toward the family.
Baures said Saturday he thinks Greer, who didn't witness the argument in the store, might have been given false information by family members on what took place, leading to the attack. "I would have beat somebody too for hitting my kid,'' Baures said. "But it never happened."
But what about the "assault" the victim made on the "young child" by ripping his "toy" out of his hands?
All I can comment on is my perceptions and that is that the neighborhood my friends were in was predominantly black and when in area restaurants and shops, whites were a minority.
There are many suburbs that are mostly white but have sections where mostly blacks frequent and tend to live (Oak Park is an example). Also that area you listed is right next to several suburbs--Hillside, Bellwood and Broadview (the walmart criminals hometown). Two of which are mostly black.
Cubs Fan, thanks for helping us all to stay up-to-speed on this completely under-reported story. Under different circumstances, this would receive major coverage from The New York Times, ABCCBSNBCCNN, et al.
I'm willing to bet a million dollars that skeletons will come out of the closet regarding Lennell Greer and past criminality. A man doesn't live a straight, honest life and then decide to turn into a violent criminal based on a single cellular call. He is no stranger to this sociopathic behavior and I'm confident that additional investigations will prove me right.
The slimy defense lawyers from the infamous firm of Waterstraat, Fisk, Wendouie, Screwem, & Howe will not be able to successfully defend their client in the courts, especially the court of public opinion. It doesn't matter how nasty the discussion was to his family members or whether they felt "dissed and dismissed" at the time, Lennell Greer is wrong for swinging baseball bats at people. His fifteen-year-old cohort is simply a Criminal-In-Training (CIT) who should receive an identical penalty.
Once everything has been sorted in this case, we'll see it had its origins in the simple fact that two white people had the audacity to "call out" two black people on their unacceptable behavior. In this case, the black people became enraged that the white people didn't tuck their tails between their legs (typical Caucasian response) and the situation escalated from there...so they felt compelled to make some righteous calls to their homies.
Not trying to interpret this story as a race thing...but it's a race thing.
~ Blue Jays ~
I got a little more inside scoop. Here's what the papers haven't said.
The inside monitor shows only there was a shouting match the reason can't be completely determined (by appearance the black girl got out of line then stepped back in and this triggered the argument)
Walmart security came by and said to both parties something to the effect of "its Christmas please stop", then left.
The outside camera shows nothing because the rain made too much glare, its imposssible to see whats happening.
And as I mentioned before the Hispanic cashier said that the woman used her cell phone to call the thugs telling them to get the whites that came out behind them.
In addition to the boy age 15 and the father, two or more other blacks joined in the melee who it is believed didn't know any of the parties involved (it was a chance to get some good licks on whitey I guess)
Cubs Fan, so it looks like since it turned out that Lennell Greer is a complete scumball and typical criminal that's the end of coverage by the Chicago media, huh? Any more local scoop on this dirtbag?
Additionally, is there any news on how Wal-Mart may have helped the two victims of Greer's posse-assisted crime, Matthew Baures & his girlfriend?
~ Blue Jays ~
I've gone to Detroit many times in the recent past on business. Never had any actual problems, but some of that might be due to my being 6'4, 240#, and always having my gun on me
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