Video Interview with Victoria Lindsay - Gang Beating Victim

Victoria Lindsay, the Lakeland, Florida, high school student and cheerleader who was allegedly ambushed and gang beaten by her fellow cheerleaders and classmates last March 30th, recently gave her first video interview since the beating.

ABC's Good Morning America interviewed Lindsay at length, and we have embedded the interview for you here. The alleged teen age perpetrators video taped the beating, which lasted for a half hour, so they could post the film on YouTube and MySpace.

Lindsay was allegedly beaten in two sequences by her so-called friends, and the Polk County, Florida, Sheriff's department released the film of the beating in two parts. The first film that was released by the Sheriff actually contains the latter part of the beating but has the highest quality of the two films, which may be why the Sheriff released that film first.

After Lindsay was ambushed, she was beaten until she received a concussion and lost consciousness. That early part of the beating is the second film released by the Sheriff.

News reports after the beating stated that Lindsay had suffered vision and hearing loss; however, she discloses in the interview that the hearing problem has healed, but she still suffers from vision impairment, which may be corrected with glasses.

Lindsay's alleged attackers have been charged with assault and a more serious charge of kidnapping. The trial of her alleged attackers has not yet been held.

Following is the video interview with Victoria Lindsay:



The callous attitude of Lindsay's alleged attackers shocked the world when news of the beating first hit the media. Cara Murphy was initially charged along with the other defendants in the case, but charges against her were later dropped, at which time she sort of apologized in an interview by saying, "I guess I'm sorry for all that happened. I'm glad the charges got dropped though."

Oh yes! That certainly sounds remorseful.

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The following blogger posted a transcript of the second Lindsay film because much of the conversation is garbled and difficult to understand:
Transcript of 2nd Victoria Lindsay Video

Police Tase Teen with Broken Back 19 Times - Videos

In what promises to be at best a most bizarre story, Ozark, Missouri, police tased 16-year-old Mace Hutchinson 19 times while he lay on the pavement with a broken back and a broken heel in his foot.


Ozark police defended their actions because the officers felt that the injured boy was a threat to the officers.

"There's no way that they had to tase me that many times," said Mace Hutchinson.

Capt. Thomas Rousset said, "He refused to comply with the officers and so the officers had to deploy their tasers in order to subdue him. He is making incoherent statements; he's also making statements such as, 'Shoot cops, kill cops,' things like that. So there was cause for concern to the officers."

Because they were attempting to rescue the 16-year-old Hutchinson and secure his safety, police said that their use of a taser should not be questioned. "It's a big concern for the officers to keep this guy out of traffic, to keep him from getting hurt," said Rousset.

The Hutchinson boy had been walking along a freeway overpass above US Highway 65, when a concerned citizen called 9-1-1 because he feared for the boy's safety.

When police arrived they found Hutchinson incoherent and lying on the pavement of Highway 65. It appears that Hutchinson had fallen from the overpass onto the shoulder of Highway 65 below and had suffered severe injuries in the fall--injuries that included a broken back.

When Hutchinson would not make a coherent response to police questions other than "shoot cops, kill cops," they tased him repeatedly. They tased him again, and again, and again, and again. They tased him a total of 19 times.


Police did not explain how repeated tasing of an incoherent subject would make the subject coherent. Nor did police explain how someone with a broken back lying on the highway is a threat to police officers. And police did not explain how tasing someone 19 times will prevent him from sustaining further injury.

Police did say that their use of a taser 19 times should not be questioned.

Mace Hutchinson's family does not understand how the police can justify tasing Mace once, let alone 19 times. His aunt Samantha said, "I'm not an officer, but I don't see the reason for tasing somebody lying there with a broken back. I don't consider that a threat."

Samantha also said that doctors felt that "all injuries are consistent with a fall."

Mace's father, Don, insists that Mace fell onto the pavement and did not jump; however, no one knows why he fell.

Said Don Hutchinson, "They tested his system. He was clean of drugs and alcohol. We don't know why unless just being in shock and the whole thing in itself caused him to forget everything."

The family is still questioning police actions. Don Hutchinson claims that surgery, which Mace critically needed, had to be delayed for two days because of the tasing.

"The Tasing increased his white blood cell count and caused him to have a temperature so they could not go into the operation," Mr. Hutchinson said.



After surgery Mace was eventually released and is now at home still lying in bed and barely able to move. "It should be a couple months before I'm able to walk on my own," said Mace.

Mace cannot remember how he ended up on the pavement under the bridge. He knows he didn't willingly jump.

"I know I'm lucky to survive that far of a fall."

Police say Hutchinson was aggressive with them and tried to get up and get into traffic. However, Mace counters that he weighs little and wonders why police simply did not restrain him.

Police also claim Mace made threatening remarks about harming officers. The combination of Mace’s aggression and remarks were why they used the stun gun.

Mace does not remember trying to get up and doesn't know how it would have been possible considering his injuries.

"There's no way I could stand up. I had a broken back and a broken foot," Mace said.

The Ozark police have begun an internal probe of the incident.

"I definitely want them to get punished, I don't want them to get away with it," Mace said.

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Victoria Lindsay Teen Gang Beating Victim 2nd Video Released May 2008

The Polk County, Florida, Sheriff’s office released a second video in the teen gang beating of the Mulberry High School cheerleader, Victoria Lindsay. We have posted a copy of the beating here.


Lindsay, who was 16 at the time of the beating March 30th, suffered a concussion along with hearing and vision loss from the attack. The Sheriff’s office has said that the most vicious part of the beating was not filmed. See the first video.

The eight teen age classmates of Victoria had planned to place the video of the beating on MySpace and YouTube in retaliation for Victoria saying some unpleasant remarks about them on her MySpace page.

The second video shows April Cooper, 14, one of the alleged attackers, and Victoria arguing in a bedroom of the home of Mary Nichols, the grandmother of Mercades Nichols, 17, another one of the alleged attackers. Mercades had invited Victoria to live with her and her parents after Victoria felt uncomfortable living with her father and step-mother.

After the argument in the bedroom escalated, April Cooper allegedly appeared to begin punching Victoria in the face, pushed her onto a bed and continued punching her.

The Sheriff’s office also released several photos of Victoria after the attack, and the photos clearly showed blackened eyes and numerous other marks on Victoria’s face, arms and legs.

Mary Nichols, Mercades Nichols’ grandmother, told police detectives that she was shocked when she saw the video. "I was shocked that she (Mercades) didn't intervene and say, 'Hey, enough is enough," Mary Nichols said.

"You know you hit her once, that's it. Let her go."

"I don't care what anybody does. Nobody deserves to be beat like that," Mary Nichols told investigators.

The grandmother also said she knows that her granddaughter has anger issues, but she has also shown a compassionate side by helping stray dogs and rabbits.

The video that was released by the Sheriff's office had about one minute and 35 seconds in the middle that was almost totally black. We have enhanced that section the best that we could. The Sheriff's office also inserted beeps over the many expletives in the video.



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Victoria Lindsay's 911 Call - Teen Gang Beating Victim

Victoria Lindsay is the 16-year-old cheerleader from Lakeland, Florida, who was gang beaten by six other teen age girls from her school so they could post a video of the beating on YouTube and MySpace. Lindsay’s 911 call to the police after the attack was released by the Polk County Sheriff and is included below.

Here are the mug shots of the alleged perpetrators:


















Police have said that the “animalistic” ambush on Victoria lasted 30 minutes during which Victoria's head was brutally beaten into a wall until she fell unconscious. See the actual video of the beating.

Victoria told People magazine in her first interview after the beating that she was in “a lot of pain” after the attack.

Victoria is also quoted as telling People, “Your No. 1 friend is your family. Don’t trust anybody,” and if “you put it on the Internet, it will live in infamy.”

Obviously Victoria feels betrayed by girls that she thought were her friends including Mercades Nichols, whom she was living with until the day of the attack. Mercades was allegedly one of the attackers.

At her tender age, Mercades already has a violent legal record. Last fall her boyfriend at the time filed a dating violence injunction against her.

All 6 1/2 minutes of the 911 call are now posted on this web page. The second Victoria Lindsay video of the fight released by the police is right here. The very first vid is here.



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Six Teen Girls Gang Beat 16-year-old for YouTube Video

Here is the much sought after video of six Florida teen age girls gang beating another 16-year-old girl and video taping the incident just so they could post the video of the beating on YouTube and MySpace.

The victim is Victoria Lindsay, a Lakeland, Florida, high school student and cheerleader, who suffered a concussion during the beating, along with hearing and vision loss. Lakeland is near the Tampa metropolitan area.

The six alleged perpetrators are from age 14 to 17 and all attend Mulberry High School together. The six, along with two 18-year-old boys who stood as lookouts during the attack, will be tried as adults.

All are being charged with felony battery and felony false imprisonment. Brittni Hardcastle, Brittany Mayes and Mercades Nichols, all 17, also are charged with felony kidnapping and felony witness tampering because the three girls allegedly drove Lindsay around after the attack and threatened to beat her even more if she reported the beating to the police.

Eventually, they dropped her off at an intersection near another teen's home.

Prior to the video shown here, the six girls allegedly beat Lindsay to the point that she lost consciousness. Once she awoke, the alleged attackers began the video taping and continued the beating.

Patrick Lindsay, Victoria Lindsay’s father, said during a news conference, "When I saw my daughter in the emergency room, I didn't even recognize my own daughter.”

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said, “They lured her into the home for the express purpose of filming the attack and posting it on the Internet. This is outrageous behavior.”

It is being reported by the media that the motivation for the attack was retaliation for things Lindsay posted about the other girls on her MySpace page. However, the page had virtually nothing posted on it on 4/13/2008.

Even on a high speed connection both Blogger and YouTube have been slow to start videos lately, so please be patient. Video will begin eventually. Sometimes you must click the start button twice.



The attack and the video taping of the attack is taking cyber bullying to a new level.

The battery and false imprisonment charges could result in a 10 year sentence, while the kidnapping charge could add another 15 years in prison.

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