Warrant issued in alleged assault of black teen with autism running cross-country race

Police in Rochester, New York, have issued an arrest warrant for a man accused of attacking a black teen with autism while he was running in a cross-country event last month.

Martin MacDonald, of Pittsford, is being charged with second-degree harassment, according to Syracuse.com. A warrant was signed Wednesday afternoon by a Rochester municipal judge.

MacDonald is accused of assaulting Chase Coleman, 15, of Syracuse, on Oct. 14 while the teen was running an event in Rochester with his teammates. USA Today reported that witnesses told police that MacDonald got out of his car, pushed Chase to the ground and screamed at him to "get out of here."

Witnesses said Chase was running in the middle of the road, in his maroon Syracuse uniform and with a race number pinned to his shirt, when the confrontation took place, Syracuse.com reported. MacDonald told police he was afraid the teen would mug his wife, who sat in the passenger seat of the car. He said he was concerned because his car had been broken into recently.

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Rochester city officials initially refused Chase's parents' attempt to press charges against MacDonald, sending them a denial letter on Oct. 21. Syracuse.com reported that investigators needed a signed statement from his mother, Clarise Coleman, attesting to the fact that her son has limited communication because of his autism. With that statement, the harassment charge could move forward without a statement from Chase himself.

If convicted, MacDonald faces 15 days in jail on the charge.

Coleman's deposition was taken on Monday, after she took to social media about her family's plight. That move brought support for Chase from friends and strangers alike -- and put public pressure on Rochester officials to continue investigating the case.

Supporters included Syracuse Common Councilwoman Susan Boyle, who wrote a letter to the Monroe County district attorney.

"We aren't going to have a child, an autistic African-American, attacked on the street by a grown man," Boyle told USA Today.

Coleman told USA Today she was waiting along the race route to cheer her son on when a woman approached her and said Chase had been assaulted. When she got to her son, he was walking alongside another witness.

The mostly non-verbal Chase, who indicated to his mother that his back hurt, opted to finish his race, USA Today said. A few days after the incident, however, he turned his uniform in to his coach.

Besides seeking justice for her son, Coleman is trying to get him running again. The attack has made him afraid to even go to practice, something he has enjoyed since he discovered running three years ago, his mother said.

Syracuse residents are trying to help by scheduling a community run for later this month, the newspaper reported. They hope the support will get Chase moving again.

Syracuse.com reported Wednesday that Rochester police have also offered to send a patrol car to pick Chase up and take him to run with the department's police recruits. Investigator Frank Camp told the newspaper that Rochester police are looking forward to it.

"We are also looking forward to having our police officers and police officer recruits connect with Chase on a (personal) level to further raise the awareness of autism,'' Camp wrote in an email.

Coleman said her son was traumatized by what happened, but is slowly returning to normal.

"He wasn't sleeping and wasn't eating, but he's coming back to being his jolly little 15-year-old SpongeBob self," Coleman told USA Today. "This man tried to take my faith out of humanity, and all these other people, I feel like, were all standing together saying, 'Nope.'"

Cox Media Group