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"Unless the attackers somehow knew what these guys were thinking (impossible)"

If you see a bunch of guys walking around in the middle of the night, looking into cars, and trying their doors, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out they were trying to steal a car or a stereo system.

Frankly, this sounds to me like a guy who's had his car stolen one time too many and has taken it upon himself to patrol his neighborhood in order to catch people just like these guys.

As for the two extra guys, somehow I doubt they exist. What are the chances of him having time to go get two extra guys (in the middle of the night) and then come back and the wanna be thieves are still there.

I suspect he got out of his SUV and clobbered the one guy with his bat and the other two ran off. Sure, he should have called the police, but he has probably tried that too, and been frustrated.

He shouldn't have attacked the guy, but I have a hard time classifying this as a hate crime. Unless this guy says he would have only attacked black guys who were trying to steal a car instead of any guys who were trying to steal a car, then proving this is a hate crime is going to be difficult. My guess is he will be convicted of assault and battery.

Frankly, this sounds to me like a guy who's had his car stolen one time too many and has taken it upon himself to patrol his neighborhood in order to catch people just like these guys.

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That's because you don't know HB or Bensonhurst or Mill Basin. In the 70s I answered a call where a guy got beat up in HB by the locals just for dating a girl from the block. They trashed his car and broke his jaw. He was a white college kid. The attitude was, "He shouldn't have been here..."

If you see a bunch of guys walking around in the middle of the night, looking into cars, and trying their doors, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out they were trying to steal a car or a stereo system.

Well, I can agree with that. Unfortunately, the article doesn't say if the 3 black guys were doing that.