Real Knock Out: brick and punch-throwing attacker arrested on the DTM

27-year old Altonio F. Turner was arrested March 22 for assault, and throwing a brick through a car window on the DTM.. Charlottesville Police mugshot.

On the heels of the recent false "Knock Out" story on the DTM, it appears there was a real random assault (Note: this does not appear to be a "knock out" game attack) on the DTM on Saturday, March 22, which resulted in the arrest of 27-year old Altonio F. Turner on the 100 block of the East Main Street at approximately 7:45pm. According to a witness, the incident began when Turner, who was accompanied by an older man, threw a bottle at a car on First Street and seemed to be agitated. The witness, who wished to remain anonymous, says he was walking down First Street past the store Petit Bebe when Turner started asking him, angrily, if he "had something to say." The witness says they were about 10 feet away from Turner when he responded, saying, "no." Turner then came at the witness and punched him in the face.

"It happened very, very fast," says the witness, "then he started walking up the mall and turned again and started in with the whole "you got something to say" thing again."

When Turner got to the top of First Street, the witness reports, he walked up to three guys and "clocked" one of them.

"That guy was bleeding pretty bad," says the witness, "so he walked down to the Southern and some folks at the Southern got him napkins and such. Then his friends took him to the hospital."

According to a Charlottesville police report, Turner then walked up to East Market Street and ended up throwing a brick through the window of a passing car. There was a child in the back seat of the car who got hit with glass, but suffered no life threatening injuries and was treated and released from UVA Hospital.

"The older guy who was with him kept apologizing for him," says the witness," saying he had had a bad day."

Turner has been charged with one felony; throwing a missile at a moving vehicle, and two misdemeanors; destruction of private property, and assault. According to Charlottesville General District Court records, Turner has been charged several times before, dating back to 2007, with assault and destruction of property.

The witness, who says he doesn't plan to file charges, offered a unique take on the experience.

"Honestly, I appreciated the blow to the face," he says. "Came at a good point in my life. It got me thinking about cycles of behavior and the need to break them. I found it somewhat depressing to think the guy is going (back?) into the system. He'll just come out even more violent and angry and next time and maybe he gets a gun."

This is a developing story. Stay turned for more details.