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Alex Cabrero ReportingA 15-year old boy waiting for his school bus this morning says two men hopped out of a car and jumped him. It's what they supposedly said that's most disturbing. Those words might hurt more than punches.
You see, the victim is Hispanic and told police he didn't know what to think when the two white men got out of their car and ran towards him. They punched him several times, then ran back into their car, supposedly saying, 'Go Back to Mexico.'
Of all the traffic that goes past 10th North and 9th West in Salt Lake City every day, there's one car 15-year old Felipe will never forget.
Rosalba, Victim's Mother: "Just angry, what they did to my son."
Rosalba, who didn't want to give her or her son's last name, couldn't believe it when she got the call this morning. Her son suffered three fractures around his eye socket.
Rosalba: "He told me they had beaten him up."
But probably most troublesome for this family, is they think this attack had something to do with race, and all the recent talk about immigration.
Rosalba: "They told him, ‘What are you doing her? You don't belong here.'"
After he was assaulted, her son, who's Hispanic, says his two white attackers told him to go back to Mexico.
Rosalba: "They make you feel like trash."
Police are investigating this case and say it's still too early to know for sure exactly what happened. They don't want a racial-battle to begin in this neighborhood or anywhere, but if it's all true, the suspects could be looking at hate crime charges.
Det. Kevin Joiner, Salt Lake City Police Dept.: "Absolutely. If we can find these people and this is how this really took place, absolutely this is a hate crime."
Police ask if there were any witnesses in the 10th North, 9th west area this morning, they'd like to talk to you to get a better idea of what happened.
As for Felipe, he could get out of the hospital any minute now.
