Pilot reporter speaks out about assault

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - Questions are being raised about the way Norfolk police responded to an alleged attack on two local newspaper reporters.

According to the police report, obtained by WAVY.com, the attack happened on Saturday, April 14 at 11 p.m. It states that David Forster, 31, and his colleague, Marjon Rostami, 26, were driving home from the Attucks Theatre, when they came to a stoplight at the intersection of Church Street and Brambleton Avenue in downtown Norfolk.

Forster tells WAVY.com he noticed a large crowd in the area.

"There was this huge crowd of young people," said Forster. "Best guess is 100 [people], could have been more, maybe a little less, but it was a long line of people like some big event had just gotten out."

Forster says someone in the crowd threw a rock at the vehicle.

Rostami told police she believed the rock was thrown because the suspect saw her lock her door as a large group of young black males passed by the car.

Forster decided to get out and address the situation. He regrets it, now.

"The first punch was like square right in the nose," said Forster.

Others in the crowd joined in. Rostami later told Forster groups of young men took turns punching and kicking him before rotating through the crowd, so others could get a turn.

"I'm just absorbing the blows, being like 'I'm okay. Alright I can get back inside,' but there was a moment where I'm surrounded and getting punched and I'm thinking 'This is getting really bad.'"

Rostami tried to help pull him back inside the vehicle, but when she did, the mob turned on her, striking her four or five times in the face and head, according to the police report.

When Forster was eventually able to get back in the vehicle, they locked the doors. The crowd began to disperse, according to the police report.

Forster says two Norfolk police officers responded to the scene after the crowd cleared. But Forster and especially Rostami, left disappointed at how they were treated by the officers.

Forster and Rostami say police did not interview witnesses, even though some stood by to help prove their story. Forster says at one point an officer spoke harshly to Rostami.

"She was hysterical," he said. "She was trying to get her breath, but, at one point, the officer told her to 'Shut up and get in the car.'"

There were two officers on the scene. One of them stayed at the scene, according to Forster, but the other left the scene to answer another call. The officer took the initial report for the assault, then gave the victims his card and told them to call him later to complete it, Norfolk Police spokesman Chris Amos said.

Amos declined an interview on his behalf and on behalf of the police chief.

Moments after 10 On Your Side's report on an alleged attack aired, Amos issued the response in an effort to clear up any questions that surround the investigation. In the news release, Amos says "The officer involved in this case has vehemently denied the quotes attributed to him in this editorial."

Read: Norfolk Police response to investigation

The police response also addresses the issue of racial motivation, saying " The motive for the assault remains under investigation, while it has been suggested to be racially motivated the facts, as we know them at this time, do not identify a clear motive beyond an individual confronting a group of males for throwing a rock at his car."

Both alleged victims in the case are white, while the alleged assailants are predominantly black, according to the victims' recollection of the incident.

In the police report obtained by WAVY.com, the report indicated the police were investigating the matter as a hate crime. A box labeled 'Suspect Hate / Bias Motivated' is checked 'Yes.' After 10 On Your Side's 5 p.m. report, Amos said the computer system had a glitch and the box is supposed to be checked 'No.'

Amos says if there is text entered in the following space, the computer system automatically checks 'Yes,' which in this case, Amos says is incorrect. Amos says the police department is investigating this as a simple assault, but that 'that does not preclude the suspects involved from being charged with Felony Mob Assault if warranted.

Wednesday Virginian-Pilot editor Denis Finley sent a memorandum to his staff explaining the thought process surrounding their decision to not report the assault when it happened.

Read: Virginian-Pilot editor Denis Finley's memorandum to Pilot staff

WAVY.com spoke with Finley one-on-one Wednesday to address viewers' questions about why the paper ran the article in the 'Opinion' section, rather than the 'News' section.

"We never ask if something is an editorial, we always ask is something worth a news story," said Finley. "When this happened, it was a simple assault, and involved our staffers. We try to treat ourselves as we do the rest of the community."

Forster says the newspaper waited to see the police report before running the story. Finley added the news department decided not to pursue