Attack on autistic teen runner prompts charges of racism by Syracuse official

By Tim Knauss | tknauss@syracuse.com
on October 29, 2016 at 10:27 AM, updated October 29, 2016 at 11:14 AM

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Chase Coleman, an autistic ninth-grader at Corcoran High School, was running in a cross country race in Rochester when a middle-aged stranger attacked him.

The man got out of his car, shoved Chase down in the road and yelled "get out of here'' before driving off, according to witnesses.

A few days after the Oct. 14 incident, the nonverbal 15-year-old runner handed his uniform back to his coach and quit the team.

Now Chase's mother, Clarise Coleman, wants to know why Rochester authorities refuse to press charges against the man who admitted pushing Chase.

She fears the answer is this: Chase is black and disabled, and his attacker was white.

Whatever the reason, 57-year-old Martin MacDonald of suburban Pittsford was not charged. Rochester City Court Judge Caroline Morrison denied a requested arrest warrant charging MacDonald for second-degree harassment, despite Coleman's desire to press charges.

The harassment charge is only a violation, with a maximum jail sentence of 15 days. But Coleman is outraged that authorities won't seek at least that much justice for her son.

"If that man had been black and Chase had been white, and that (police) report went in, he'd have been in jail,'' she said.

Syracuse city officials also expressed concern. Coleman's city councilor, Susan Boyle, this week wrote a letter to Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley deploring what Boyle called "a racist, aggressive, unprovoked attack on a disabled African American minor with absolutely no consequences.''

Boyle said Syracuse officials want an explanation and an assurance that city school kids will be safe participating in events in Rochester.

Chase was running in his maroon Syracuse West cross country uniform, with a race number pinned to it. The incident occurred near the reservoir in Cobb's Hill Park, Rochester.

Witnesses said Chase was in the middle of a road when MacDonald stopped his car several feet away from the runner. The road was not closed to traffic. Chase's mother, who did not see the incident, speculates that Chase may have been confused about where to run.

MacDonald admitted pushing Chase to the ground, police said. Asked why, he told an officer "he thought Chase was going to mug his wife and take her purse,'' according to the police report.

"MacDonald's wife was sitting in the front passenger seat at the time of the incident,'' the officer noted.

MacDonald said he was concerned about Chase's intentions because "some youths had broken into his car recently,'' according to the police report. MacDonald also told an officer that Chase did not respond when told to move out of the road, police said.

Kris Van Metter, 42, was in Rochester visiting relatives that weekend and went for a bicycle ride in Cobb's Hill Park. Reached by phone Friday in Washington, D.C., Van Metter said he had just finished riding when he saw a large middle-aged man -- later identified by police as MacDonald -- get out of his car and yell at Chase for several minutes.

"I see a grown man, who is quite tall and fairly heavy . . . exit the vehicle and give this young man a shove that puts him back 10 feet and flat on his butt,'' Van Metter said. "Like, just shoved him across the road. The kid didn't seem to be doing anything but standing there, obviously had nothing in his hands, and weighed all of 130 pounds. This guy (MacDonald) was easily twice that."

MacDonald then hopped in his car and drove off, according to Van Metter and another witness, Collin Thompson, who was running in the area. Thompson and Van Metter both said Chase was in the middle of the road during the confrontation.

Both witnesses took down the car's license plate number.

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