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8 teens charged in beating of man mistaken for rapistBy Jim SuhrGlobe Staff WriterCARTHAGE, Mo. — To Jasper County lawmen, Leonel Cifuenies’ fractured nose, face and ribs illustrate the painful result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong color of skin.In a violent case of mistaken identity, authorities suggest, the 33-year-old Arkansan was beaten by 10 people bent on avenging the reported rape of a teen-age acquaintance east of Carthage.An investigator said Tuesday that Cifuenies did not have anything to do with the sexual attack, but he paid the price for one lone reason: Like the accused rapist, the Guatemalan “just looked Hispanic.”“I don’t think (Cifuenies’ accused attackers) had any idea who they were looking for in the rape,” Jasper County Sheriffs Lt. Tony Coleman said. “They were given the description of a Hispanic male, and off they went. “It was a clear-cut case of oops, the wrong person.’ ”And to Coleman, it was clearly a case of vigilantism, prompting him to recount the case delicately Tuesday out of concern publicity of events late Sunday east of Carthage could trigger a local racial backlasn.“It was a very rare, hopefully very isolated occurrence,” Coleman said. “I hope people realize that what these (eight charged attackers) are facing as a result 01 this means it’s not the right thing to do.”Here’s Coleman’s account:Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Sunday, an unidentified 14-year-old Carthage girl and a 16-year-old acquaintance were near Kellogg Lake when a car occupied by two men approached.For unspecified reasons, the teenagers accepted a ride from the two strangers, who drove the girls to a secluded area east of Carthage. One of the men raped the 14-year-old before the two men drove away.Both teens summoned authorities from a nearby farmhouse. The rape victim later was treated at McCune-Brooks Hospital as her acquaintances elsewhere in Carthage neard of the attack, then gathered at the hospitalWith a general description that the supposed rapist appeared Hispanic, Coleman said, “these friends took it upon themselves to find the person“T1 don’t think (Cifue-nies’ accused attackers) had any idea who they were looking for in the rape.”— Lt.Tony Colemanresponsible for this.”The victim’s acquaintances scoured Carthage before seeing Cifuenies and his unidentified brother-in-law driving near the Carthage square.“Unknown to these friends, we already had obtained information that led us” to the suspected rapist, found in a Carthage home near where his car was parked, Coleman said.Meanwhile, acquaintances of the alleged rape victim enticed Cifuenies and his in-law to follow them to a dark, rural road east of Carthage, where the two men “were jumped.”Though Cifuenies’ in-law managed to escape the attack, Cifuenies tned to flee on foot but was caught in a field by the attackers. After Being pummeled with clubs and rocks, the injured Cifuenies feigned death until his attackers bolted.Cifuenies struggled to a farmhouse and called authorities before being treated at the Carthage hospital for multiple fractures sustained in the attack that also left him with “extreme bruises and welts.”On Monday, Jasper County prosecutors charged eight of Cifuenies’ alleged assailants with felony assault.Those defendants are Patrick Walker, 24, Chad McMillen, 20, Mark Campbell, 20, Lori Pliler, 19, Stephanie Sheldon, 19, and Danny Wise, 18, all of Carthage; Erykah Allen, 18, Sarcoxie, and Michael Willis, 18, hometown unavailable.Each of those eight remained jailed Tuesday in lieu of$50,000 bond.Two youths also suspected of attacking Cifuenies were remanded to the custody of juvenile authorities.Meanwhile Monday, prosecutors also charged Francisco Vega, 36, Carthage, in the rape. He remained jailed Tuesday in Carthage in lieu of $75,000 bond.Lawmen on Tuesday continued searching for the man who allegedly accompanied Vega during the alleged rape.
Newspaper Details
Joplin Globe
Joplin, Missouri, US
Wed, Jun 25, 1997
Page 33
Full Page
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Jd C.
NA, 05 Apr 2025
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