6 charged in attack on dad protecting daughter at Valleyfair

Father allegedly stomped by group after one tried to grope pre-teen.

By ABBY SIMONS, Star Tribune

Last update: July 15, 2008 - 8:47 AM

The father of a 12-year-old girl who tried to keep a young man from groping his daughter at a popular Shakopee amusement park was seriously hurt late on July 4 after he was allegedly kicked and stomped by a group of men in an attack police called "brutal."

The attack on the unnamed man, which happened just outside Valleyfair Amusement Park, resulted in charges against at least six Twin Cities-area men. They were among several people the initial attacker called on his cell phone to summon them to join the assault.

The group beat up the father as his wife and daughter looked on, police said. The man was seriously injured and unconscious when police arrived.

"We see assaults, but that's brutal," Shakopee police Sgt. Jay Arras said.

Arras said the man and his family were leaving Valleyfair shortly before midnight on July 4 when a man "tried to grab the 12-year-old girl in a sexual manner" near the park exit, the father later told police.

"There was one initially that touched his daughter," he said. "He protected her, and more were called in."

When the attacker's friends arrived, the victim "was jumped from behind by all of them," Arras said.

Seven people were arrested at the scene, while an eighth who fled was caught a short time later.

The six charged with third-degree felony assault in Scott County District Court were Devondre Evans-Lewis, Andrew Shannon, Darris Evans, Terry Arnold, Derry Evans and Anthony Gildersleeve, according to media reports.

Arras said that he didn't know the extent of the father's injuries but that according to the criminal charges, the victim suffered skull fractures and possible bleeding on the brain.

"I just know they were bad," he said.

He added that the group continued to assault other people unprovoked after the attack on the father. There were no reports of other injuries.

Scott County Attorney Patrick Ciliberto and others from his office could not be reached late Monday, and a call to a Valleyfair spokeswoman was not returned.

Abby Simons • 612-673-4921

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