Army Captain almost beaten to death by eight thugs outside restaurant

Police are looking for several men who severely beat a highly-respected Army captain and Purple Heart recipient during a vicious beating outside a Kansas City restaurant.

The 37-year-old decorated soldier is lucky to be alive, his cousin says, after the bar fight at Zocalo Mexican Restaurant.  The Army Captain is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and was injured by an I.E.D. blast in Iraq.

Kansas City Police told KCTV, on Sept. 19, the soldier walked out of the restaurant and a man he bumped into earlier– along with a gang of his buddies — were waiting for him because they were “looking for a fight.”

It was a Friday night and the soldier went to have some drinks with friends from Fort Leavenworth, when the incident occurred.  The soldier accidentally bumped into a man, who was later asked to leave by the managers at the restaurant, after he became hostile.  The victim’s cousin told Fox4 News that he tried to defuse the situation, but it didn’t help.

When the active duty soldier left the restaurant, the man he bumped inside, apparently ordered as many as eight other guys to attack him.  The beating was so violent that it knocked the Army captain unconscious.

Witnesses described the attackers as young black males who all left the scene in a white vehicle.

One of the men that was with the primary suspect had an open tab at the bar and left his debit card behind, according to police. But that still hasn’t led to any arrests.

The victim suffered severe blood loss, multiple facial fractures, massive swelling, and his nose had to be reconstructed, the report said.

He is now listed in good condition. Police want to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the attack. There were no working security cameras outside the establishment, so police are hoping someone will come forward with information.