JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Police are looking into two strikingly similar attacks on two teens who said they are the victims of vicious skateboard beatings.
One of the attacks happened in the 4500 block of Southside Boulevard in Tinseltown.
According to police, a 14-year-old and his friend were skateboarding in a parking lot when three teens walked up and demanded their skateboards.
The police report states that when the skateboarder refused, the teens grabbed the skateboard and hit the boy in the face.
"They grabbed it from him and as they did that, they hit him right over the face," said 15-year-old witness Shawn Morrell.
He said he and his friend were riding their skateboards home from the Tinseltown Movie Theater when a group of teens demanded his friend's skateboard.
"He had a big lump and it was bleeding. We went to the hotel and called my dad," Morrell said.
"He had a pretty good lump above his eye. You could tell he had been hit pretty hard," said witness Nick Hansen.
The Southside incident was not the only report of a skateboard beating.
Another mom said a similar incident happened to her son while he was riding his skateboard in the Spring Park area.
"They picked up his skateboard and started using the skateboard to hit him, and they were kicking him," said Teresa Leitzel.
She said it was a group of teens who beat her son, and that they used a bottle before picking up his skateboard.
"He got five stitches in his head. I don't know if it was from the bottle or him getting hit by the skateboard. He had some bruises and scrapes but no broken bones," Leitzel said.
Police said they don't know if the beatings are related or the work of the same group of teens because a police report wasn't filed for every incident.
"If you're approached by someone who is demanding something from you, give it to them," said Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokesman Ken Jefferson.
Police also said it's important for victims to call them anytime a crime is committed.
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