Police seek suspects responsible for brutal baseball bat beating

MOUNT PLEASANT (WITI) -- A Mount Pleasant teen suffered a brutal beating over the weekend, and police say he was hunted down and attacked by suspects wielding baseball bats.

At first, police received calls reporting vehicles racing in the Lake Park area. As it turned out, a group of suspects in a pickup truck were chasing the victim, who was in a Dodge Neon.

The back window of that Neon was obliterated and the front windshield shattered.

"The guys jumped out of the trucks and smashed the window of the driver's side window of the car and started beating up the guy," Mike Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson told FOX6 News he ran outside when he heard the commotion. He says suspects were trying to attack the three occupants int he vehicle. The Neon tried to get away, pulling out of a dead-end and turning around, but got stuck in another dead-end. The pickup truck was still on its tail.

"Once the Neon got stuck in the snow bank, the other occupants got out and started beating them with baseball bats," a police official told FOX6 News.

Police say one of the victims was dragged from the car and struck several times.

"Anytime you have someone swinging a baseball bat and hit someone in the head, death can occur," a police official said.

"Swearing, cussing, foul language. They were just brutalizing them," Hutchinson said.

The pickup truck and suspects sped off before police arrived, but the victim was left behind. Several residents called for help.

"I seen his head wrapped up real bad. He was sitting in the ambulance as they were driving away," Hutchinson said.

One victim suffered a head injury and was taken to the hospital. The other injured a wrist -- possibly in self-defense.

Investigators are now trying to determine the motive for this attack at nearly 3:15 a.m. -- and are also on the hunt for the suspects.

"Nothing good is going to happen at that time, so kids that age should be home in bed and certainly we have some curfew violations here we`ll be dealing with," a police official said.

The victims, who were all 17, may face some curfew violations. The suspects' charges are much more serious -- including substantial battery and reckless endangerment.