ROSEVILLE, Mich. – A 72-year-old U.S. Navy veteran said he was badly beaten in a Roseville parking lot because he asked someone to pick up his litter.
Dennis Probert went to the Ace Hardware store in the Eastgate Shopping Center off Gratiot Avenue to get a new pair of keys made Friday. He said he saw a car dumping bags of trash into the parking lot.
“I was taught, you know, obey the rules. You know you don’t litter," Probert said. "I’ve seen so much of it and people get away with it. I just said ‘No more.’”
He took photos of the car to show police, but before he knew it, the passenger got out of the car to approach him. Probert told the man he saw him littering and that’s when he said the man attacked him.
“He was right at my face and started punching me, hit me three or four times,” Probert said. “I went down. I think he must have either kicked me or punched me in the rib cage.”
He was bleeding badly when the passenger got back into the car and drove off.
“I want to see him punished. I will press charges once they get him,” Probert said. “And they will, whether they check the cameras out or they go from the information I gave them.”
Probert said he’s still sore, but he won’t let the incident stop him from living his life.
“They’re not going to intimidate me,” Probert said. “Never.”
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Roseville Police Department at 586-447-4475.
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