By Joe Johnson
Athens-Clarke County police were investigating a home invasion at a westside apartment complex early Thursday in which a young man was pistol-whipped by purported gang members.
According to a police incident report, officers responded to University Oaks Apartments off West Broad Street on a 4:18 a.m. report of a white male screaming for help and saying that four males had pistol-whipped him.
The 20-year-old victim was holding a blood-soaked towel to the top of his head when officers located him, according to the report.
The victim said he was in his apartment when four intruders entered through the rear sliding door. All were black males between 16 and 18 years old.
He recognized three by their street names of Demon, LB, and Walla, and said the fourth, like Walla was wearing a blue bandana, according to the report.
The victim reportedly told officers that Demon and Walla belonged to the Crips street gang, and LB was a member of Piru, a set of the Bloods gang.
The report noted that the victim had a Latin Kings tattoo on his right index finger, and when asked about it, he said that "it was only a crown.”
The victim said that after the suspects entered his home they sat on a couch and mattress in the living room, according to the report.
An argument ensued when the victim yelled at the suspects to leave, at which time Demon and the unknown male pulled guns on him, with Demon threatening that he would shoot if the victim didn’t empty his pockets, according to the report.
The victim told officers he refused to comply with the demand because he did not believe that Demon would shoot, at which time Walla went to the kitchen counter and threw dishes on the floor, and also told the victim to empty his pockets, according to the report.
That is when the suspects reportedly began to beat the victim, who said he was struck multiple times in the head with a gun.
The males then left through the back door and the victim left through the front to seek help. A neighbor who reportedly heard the victim screaming for help allowed the victim into his home where he gave him a towel for his bleeding head.
The victim said that nothing was stolen from him, according to the report, which noted that drug paraphernalia was scattered throughout his apartment, including a large bong and multiple digital scales and ripped baggie corners and tin foil with burn marks.
The victim reportedly told police the only drug he used was marijuana and he believed the suspects tried to rob him because he keeps a lot of cash in his apartment.