Statesville man speaks up after assault, robbery

According to Murdock, he rode his son's scooter to a store on Newton drive on Monday, and as he was leaving, noticed a group of 15 to 20 young men in the parking lot.

“One of them asked me if he could ride the scooter,” Murdock said.

He told the man no and continued on his way home, crossing the street and riding down Park Drive. Murdock said he was about a tenth of a mile down Park Drive when he felt something hit him in the back.

“The next thing I know I was getting jumped on by eight or 10 of them,” he said.

Murdock said he was kicked and punched and believes he was hit in the back with a stick.

“My fiancée said the marks look like (they were caused by) a stick,” he said Thursday from his room at Davis.

He said he saw one of the men he spotted at the store carrying a chain, and he may have been struck with that as well.

“I balled up," Murdock said. "I was defenseless since there were so many of them."

The assailants scattered after a car drive toward the group, Murdock said. Before departing, however, they robbed him of his cash, about $35. He said the only reason his son’s scooter wasn’t taken is because he fell on it as he was knocked down by the first blow.

The man who dispersed the assault asked Murdock if he was injured and offered him a ride home -- an offer Murdock accepted. The man, he said, wouldn’t give his name. Murdock said he’s grateful that man came along and offered help.

“If it hadn’t been for him, they probably wouldn't have stopped until I was dead,” he said.

Murdock, who suffers from a variety of health problems, said he felt fine, just a little sore, at first.

“About 30 minutes after I got home, I started having trouble breathing,” he said.

He called an ambulance and was taken to the hospital where doctors found a broken rib punctured his lung and caused it to collapse.

He spent two days in ICU before being transferred to a regular room, and he said he will likely remain in the hospital for a week.

Murdock said the attackers were in their mid-teens to early 20s, but a couple may have been younger than 16.

“A couple looked like kids,” he said. “It’s kinda scary when young kids are out here jumping people. What if I’d had my fiancée or my kids with me?”

Murdock said he recognized one of the assailants and gave that name to investigators from the Statesville Police Department.

Murdock said he’s lived in the area where the assault occurred for about three years and never feared for his or his family’s safety until now.

“I’m very worried,” he said.

He said he’s speaking about his experience in the hopes that those responsible will be caught.

“I want to see justice served," Murdock said. "It’s not right to get jumped and beaten up and for them to get away with it.”

He said he also wants people to be aware of what happened to him.

“If one person will get in the car and go to the store rather than walk, if I can keep one person from going through what I’m going through, it’s worth it,” Murdock said.

Statesville Police Chief Tom Anderson said investigators are working on the case, hoping to learn who is responsible for the assault and robbery.

Anyone with information is asked to call the SPD at 704-878-3406 or Iredell Crime Stoppers at 704-662-1340. Callers do not have to reveal their identity and a cash reward is possible.