Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- A Riverton man now faces a felony charge for allegedly chasing and assaulting a 14-year-old boy.
- Marshal Aho, 23, is charged with aggravated child abuse, a third-degree felony.
- The incident involved doorbell ditching; teen suffered concussion, broken braces, cuts and bruises.
RIVERTON — A criminal charge was filed Wednesday against a Riverton man accused of assaulting a 14-year-old boy who rang his doorbell and ran away.
Marshal Aho, 23, is charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated child abuse, a third-degree felony.
On June 22, a 14-year-old boy told police he and some friends "decided to walk to a gas station. While out, they decided to 'ding dong ditch' a string of townhomes. After they rang the doorbells, they began running," according to charging documents.
As the boys were running north along 1630 West near 12700 South, they noticed that three men who had been in a garage when they rang one of the doorbells were chasing them.
The 14-year-old boy fell on some rocks near a sidewalk and "the main guy," as the teen called him, "pushed (his) face into the gravel and began kicking and punching (the teen). (The teen) stated that 'the main guy' punched him in the back of the head multiple times, in conjunction with kicking him in the side," the charges allege.
When "the main guy's" friends caught up, a man estimated to be between 300 and 400 pounds sat on the 14-year-old's back while "the main guy" asked the teen, "Do you want to die tonight?" and "Do you want to meet Jesus tonight?" according to the charges.
The teen told police that "the main guy" told one of his friends to grab his gun, and then grabbed the back of the boy's head and slammed his head into the rocks, the charges say.
"The larger male was 'hammer fisting' his back. One of the males that was standing back, then told the main guy, 'Lets go' and as the main guy walked away, he stomped on (the boy's) head. (The boy) stated that he thought he was going to die during the assault," the charging documents state.
The boy suffered a concussion, broken braces, cuts and bruises to his ribs and forehead, and "bumps and bruises" to his head, stomach and back, investigators say.
The teen pointed out to the police the doors that he doorbell ditched. Detectives ran the license plate numbers of the vehicles in the parking lot and discovered that Aho, the registered owner of one of the vehicles, fit the description of one of the attackers, the charges state. His address also matched one of the residences that was doorbell ditched, and the young teen then picked Aho out of a photo lineup, police say.
In a separate case in August, a Salt Lake man was charged with child kidnapping, a first-degree felony, and child abuse, a class A misdemeanor, and accused of forcefully holding a 12-year-old boy who had just doorbell ditched him until his parents arrived.
