"He told me it was his birthday," D said. "As a joke I told him it was my birthday too."
Instead of a present though, D was beaten and robbed by a group of African-American men.
"You know I got assaulted from behind and so I turned around and when I did that I twisted my ankle on the curb," D said. "And then that's when they grabbed my wallet."
As he thought about it, D recalled seeing a group of people - three young men and a woman- get on the same train with him.
"I didn't think they were paying attention to me on the train or anything," he said.
His injuries were minor, but the bartender who guesses he stands 6'3" and weighs 230 pounds lost an estimated $350.
The first thought he had was why there wasn't more security in that area at 1 a.m.
But then around Nov. 10, D said Denver police detectives seemed to have a much greater interest in him and his assailants.
"I'm not sure. But I thought that, um, the way that the officer said it when he was interviewing me, it made me think about other things happening at the light rail," D said.
Police were telling D that his attack could be connected to a series of other, racially motivated assaults that had gripped the city for months.
"He said one of them, a few of them had a lot had a lot more serious outcome," D said. "The more I thought about it it sounded like they were referring to something where somebody possibly lost their life."
Instantly, D said he flashed back to what he had read, about another young man who had taken the train and was found dead, Nov. 6.
Andrew Graham had taken the light rail to the County Line stop before he was found dead, near his family's Centennial home.
"I mean if it looks like a duck, (it) might be," D said.
On Nov. 19, Denver police arrested three men, 21-year-old Landae Woods-King, 18-year-old Nyeri Goff and 19-year-old Tabias Graves.
Police sources tell TheDenverChannel the still-unsolved Graham killing is centered on a group of people connected to the summer beatings downtown.
While stressing that he doesn't know if there is any direct link, D admits he's wondered if the same people that targeted him could be capable of killing someone.
"I guess I feel it's upsetting because I think that Denver is a very progressive city in that sense. But I think Denver is a very progressive city and it just shocked me, you know Honestly I don't think it's as safe as I did think it was a year ago," D said.
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Originally Posted by Looney
