by Patrick H. Moore
Zion Wright, a 14-year-old amateur skateboarder and his father, Leroy Wright Jr., have plenty to be thankful for evey Thanksgiving Day. In an act of real heroism, two summers ago, Wen Jones, a 43-year-old former Marine from Jupiter, Florida, saved the boy and his father from assault that would have resulted in serious injury by rescuing them from three violent 20-year-old men at Juno Park in Palm Beach County. In return for going to the aid of the boy and his somewhat diminutive father, Mr. Jones ended up being brutally beaten by the three thugs who turned on him with a vengeance.
According to the reports of various witnesses, the three young assailants had been spending the afternoon acting like jerks — harassing Zion Wright and his friends, kicking sand at various beach-goers, and generally acting like petty hoodlums. By the time former marine Jones got involved, matters had escalated and Zion Wright’s father, Leroy Wright, Jr., who had gone to his son’s rescue, was being punched by the hooligans.
When Wen Jones intervened, he told the punks to leave the father and his son alone. At that moment the three young men, Cody Moore Roon, Tyler Dylan Carswell and Eric Michael Deiter, all 20 – turned on Jones attacked him. Jones, who is married and has two children, was brutally beaten by the thugs, an attack that was recorded on the cell phones of numerous witnesses. Jones suffered a concussion and a fracture under his eye which needed surgery, and he was left with stitches all over his face.
When interviewed, Mr. Jones stated:
“I’m not happy to have been injured pretty severely, but at the same time, I ask myself, would I do it again? You know, it was the right thing to do, so I probably would.”
Jones stated that when he intervened, the three men were harassing Zion and his friends outside the restrooms, and had begun physically accosting Zion’s father who had told them to leave.
“I couldn’t stand there and watch this older guy and kid get beaten up,” Jones said.
So he approached the punks and told them to calm down – but they then turned on him.
“I got tangled up with one the biggest guys and he beat me in the back of the head until I was unconscious. When I came to, I was being beaten in the face.”
As police arrived on the scene, the three assailants ran away but witnesses helped track them down. Several of those who recorded the attack on their cell phones, have handed the footage over to authorities.
Roon, Carswell and Deither were originally facing aggravated battery charges, but based on the video evidence, the charges have been elevated to felonies.
Leroy Wright Jr. was taken to hospital and had surgery a few days later and did not have the chance to ask Jones for his name, so the two men have not spoken since. In an interview, however, Wright — who was obviously touched by Jones’ kindness — told the Orlando Sentinel that he hopes they’ll be in touch.
“I feel like this man literally risked his life, because he saw a situation that was bad,” Wright said. “Out of all the people that was standing around on the beach that day, he was the only one that stood up against these guys.”
For his part, Jones, who looks a lot like former NBA great Chris Mullin, stated that he was lucky to receive excellent medical care and gives the impression that he has (or is) recovering nicely.
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Wen Jones is an everyday hero and we should all be thankful that he is here among us.