‘That’s just heartless’: Witness to Myles Garrett assault speaks out about attack
POSTED 5:18 PM, OCTOBER 17, 2019, BY JACK SHEA
Witness to Myles Garrett assault speaks out
CLEVELAND — A suburban Cleveland man, who witnessed the bizarre assault of Myles Garrett as the Browns star sat in his car at a downtown traffic light, is sharing his story with FOX 8 News.
Josh Torres, 20, was sitting in traffic behind Myles Garrett’s car and saw a man jump out of his car, approach Garrett’s car with his phone out to take a picture, and then punched Garrett in the face.
Torres told FOX 8 he “saw him take the phone out so I’m like ‘oh that must be somebody famous’, immediately after he punched him, I was like ‘oh my God, he hit him hard.’”
Torres then used his phone to record video after the man jumped into his car and fled.
Cleveland police were able to identify the 24-year-old suspect after Myles Garrett captured a photo of his license plate.
Torres did not realize Garrett was the victim of the assault, until the defensive end posted a series of tweets on Wednesday and joked that the punch did not even make him flinch.
Torres says Myles Garrett showed remarkable restraint.
“[He]went out of [his]way to take a picture with you and you just punched [him]in the face, it may not have hurt him, but just the simple fact that he punched him in the face. Like that’s just heartless and I really want to know why that dude did that,” he said.
Many Browns fans feel this incident is especially disturbing because Garrett has been nothing but friendly and accommodating since he arrived in Cleveland.
Garrett has opened himself up to many Clevelanders with impromptu events like a puppy play day at a Metropark, where he invited fans and their dogs to come and play with him and his German shepherd.
Josh Torres says he hopes Wednesday’s incident does not change Garrett.
“I look at him as a gentle giant. I see him interact with all the fans; I see how nice he is, you know? He’s a respectable dude, and it’s just like ‘wow, if that can happen to him who else could it happen to,’” he said.
If a tweet that Myles Garrett sent to Torres is any indication, #95 has not lost his sense of humor.
“He just said ‘thank you’, said ‘appreciate you for taking the video but how are you going to record it AFTER I get punched?’” said Torres.
FOX 8 News is not identifying the 24-year-old suspect because he has not been charged with a crime. Cleveland police say it is now up to Garrett to decide if he wants to swear out a formal complaint against the suspect.
Verified account @ MylesLGarrett 