By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The men accused of beating two high school students and calling them racist slurs at the Waffle House restaurant in Bowling Green pleaded not guilty Friday to the attack.
The men – Jacob Dick, 22, of North Baltimore, and Zachary Keller, 21, of Custar – are each facing a count of felonious assault and a count of ethnic intimidation.
Wood County Common Pleas Judge Matt Reger advised both men that under a new law enacted on March 22, they could potentially face more jail time for the attack that occurred on March 31.
The old law allowed jail sentences ranging from two to eight years for felonious assault. But the new provision allows as much as four more years to be added. That could result in a maximum sentence of 12 years, Reger explained.
Both men remain out of jail, on $50,000 bonds, and both are forbidden from having contact with the victims. Keller was additionally ordered to refrain from consuming alcohol. His attorney said Keller had been attending AA meetings.
The pretrials for both Dick and Keller are scheduled for July 19, at 2:30 p.m., in Reger’s courtroom.
Bowling Green Police Division arrested Dick and Keller, after officers responded to a call March 31, around 3:26 a.m., about an assault at Waffle House, at 1548 E. Wooster St.
Waffle House employees told police that two customers walked into the restaurant, and another table of men began to harass them, calling them racial slurs for Hispanic and black people. Three restaurant employees said the two victims – high school seniors from Findlay and Mount Cory – did nothing to provoke the others.
One of the victims reported the attackers said President Donald Trump would deal with immigrants like them.
A Waffle House employee told police that Dick and Keller then came up to pay their bill. After they finished paying, the employee said Dick and Keller went over to the victims’ table and began assaulting them. The men were identified by the credit card Dick used to pay, and by another patron in the restaurant.
Dick and Keller reportedly fled the restaurant after the attack.
The victims were checked out by Bowling Green EMS at the restaurant, then were treated at Wood County Hospital. One of the high school seniors has a broken nose and other injuries, while the other had an injured shoulder and bruised back.
This is not the first racist incident involving Dick. Last December, Dick resigned from his job with the Hancock County Engineer after a video surfaced showing Dick and another employee with a blackface doll hanging from a noose. An unidentified male voice reportedly is heard on the video uttering a racial slur in the Twitter footage.
The alleged racially motivated attack at Waffle House united many Bowling Green residents in anger about the incident. Several public meetings were held by La Conexion of Wood County, with efforts made to find solutions to stop similar events in the future.
Several citizens spoke at Bowling Green City Council asking for action to prevent such racist attacks. The city police division is planning to offer training for employees of businesses open during late night hours, so they know how to handle such incidents.
