College Youths Arrested on Assault Charges
STAFF PHOTO
Police arrest Hammoun Harmia and two accomplices in Wednesday melee.
By JOHN JONES Staff Writer Three Oberlin College youths were arrested Wednesday for attempted assault and vandalizing private property. According to police reports, the youths covered the car of town resident Nicholas MacNeil, 45, with a gel-like substance. They stood around the car until MacNeil returned. MacNeil, who is disabled, attempted to disperse the youths with his cane. The youths then took his cane and attacked him with their fists. He suffered minor injuries and is now recuperating at home. MacNeil claims that the attack was revenge for his refusal to grant them permission to hold a meeting of a school club on forest land he owns outside town. Police booked all three youths, but later dropped charges on all except their ringleader, Hammoun Harmia, 22, an Oberlin student of Arab extraction.