Wow, unbelievable. I pray this gentleman recovers.

Make an announcement at Amador High School tomorrow that if the man dies, all people who were there become accessories to Murder and mention if you come forward now it may help

@commonsense: Your post suggests that they were locals and not from outside the community, and I suspect that you are right. No certainty either way, of course, but I think that it probably took someone familiar with the local area to identify this relatively obscure street of Pleasanton where the incident took place as being an attractive party spot. Hopefully, one or more of them will contact the police and tell them what happened. It would be much better for them for take the initiative and contact the police than to wait for the police to come knocking on their doors.

If a reward is made available and/or somebody who was present contacts the PPD and names the participants with the understanding that he/she will be granted leniency.

It could also be that some of the participants are from Plutonia and others from nearby towns/cities.

Tragic. May the fellow who was severely beaten recover soon.

This is horrible. I'm shocked and saddened and will pray that this man recovers. It doesn't sound like his prognosis is good after being left for dead, but I do believe in miracles and will pray for this outcome.

As a wealthy community, it should be easy to raise money for a $10K to motivate someone to come forward. Can someone set up an reward account or perhaps PW can help? Also, any word on what we can do to help the victim's family?

I hope PPD can figure this one out. I'm just sickened by reading this.

On TV they are claiming that they are students from Foothill, Amador, and "other surrounding areas". Hopefully they have some good leads. The human trash who did this need to be held accountable. I'm looking forward to moving away from here.

The tv report I just saw, also said they have partied in the fields around and in that cul-de-sac several times before. In other words, local kids who have partied in that cul-de-sac as one of their 'spots'. The man had been tolerant of the heathens in the past.

News reports say that the Pleasanton police are working on this case non-stop and that they are following up on some promising leads (ABC News local: Web Link ). This was not a well planned crime and is not going to go down in Pleasanton police history as the toughest case they ever had to solve. Hope that some of the teens involved who may be reading this have enough sense to turn themselves in instead of waiting for the inevitable knock on their doors.

What is our beautiful town coming to? I hope they bring these kids to justice soon. Every week it seems more trouble in Pleasanton. Wake up people...it's our kids! What we are doing parenting-wise isn't working. Vandalism at Harvest park, speeding on foothill, the vandalism at Foothilll last week that hasn't even been reported, and now this. Its all escalates! It's terrible

At the very least, he should have taken mace and or fellow neighbors. One individual confronting "tough" kids who are prob trying to impress fellow peers, is not a good combination.

Also call the police when you hear a disturbance. They are trained professionals and are paid to protect and serve.

What has happened is that the city has created a number of cul-de-sacs in the Southeast Hills that are havens for criminal activity where the city's youth go up there to park (usually located near city water tanks) then they do illegal drugs, meet to buy and sell drugs, and drink.

The police do not patrol these areas, but every weekend, every cul-de-sac near a ridgeline has become a hang out location for this type of activity. Neighbors living near these cul-de-sacs find trash, condoms, syringes, etc. on a regular basis.

This story is just so incredibly sad and it literally makes me sick to my stomach. I am praying for this man and his family. I hope that he makes a full recovery. God forbid he does not survive this, mostly likely there will be more high schools students in Pleasanton charged with some degree of homicide (assuming news reports are correct that they have potential suspects and they are local students.) So so sad, that in a place where children have every opportunity to make something good with their lives, they throw it all away without rash and stupid actions. Shaking my head.

correction:
they throw it all away with rash and stupid actions. Shaking my head.

Another sad event in our town. Praying for his recovery and that the Police Department can solve this horrendous crime. Bring these thugs to justice.

When they find these thugs, they should through the book at them AND THEIR PARENTS. The kids should be charged as adults for attempted murder, and the parents should be charged with criminal negligence. It's just absolutely amazing how irresponsible a number of parents are these days. Why in the h*ll are they letting their teenagers go to these booze, drugs and sex gatherings?
Next question is, if these gatherings are happening on a regular basis in the SE foothills, why aren't the police patrolling there on a regular basis -- too busy trying to catch gramps doing 30 mph in a 25 mph zone?

If anyone has any information call this number for either school (found on the Amador and Foothill websites).

Anonymous Student Tipline: 925.417.5199

They will find the license plates from video tape around the area. These people are going down. We are praying for the man.

What is meant by "Plutonia"? Term used by Cholo

"parents should be charged with criminal negligence."

That is, of course, ridiculous and impossible.

"too busy trying to catch gramps doing 30 mph in a 25 mph zone"

No, they're busy trying to catch speeders like Cody Hall.

Web Link

I have always told my kids that nothing good happens after midnight. They really have no business whatsoever being out that late. I know that is beside the point now. I of course realize things can happen at any time of the day or night but having our teens home before midnight might be a start. My heart aches for this man and his family. These kids will be found and my advice to them would be come forward now.

Terrible situation for this man and his family; hoping for his full recovery as well as the identification and arrest of those involved in his beating.

I am bothered, though, by the discrepancy in what the story says versus the caption under the first photo in this article. The story itself appears to be saying that the man went outside to check on the situation and perhaps to ask the partiers to move from their location, and an argument ensued. The caption, however, states that he was "ACCOSTING partiers in a car outside his home in this cul-de-sac on Middleton Place. Photo by Glenn Wohltmann." Was the photographer there to see this "ACCOSTING", or did a witness tell the reporter that he "ACCOSTED" the partiers, who then defended themselves? Or was the wrong word used? Perhaps the reporter/photographer/editor meant to say "CONFRONTED", as in verbally? Words do carry different meanings, and can bias the outcome of an investigation.

Yet another example of parents wanting to be their children's friends and not their boundary setters. This is what happens when there are no consequences for right or wrong behavior -- in their minds there is no such thing as wrong behavior. I feel absolutely horrible that this is happening in our little town. Someone actually said on TV that this was a tragedy for the kids who did it as well. Seriously? Was he really thinking they were also 'victims' in this case? My thoughts are with the Lamont family as the are paying the ultimate of consequences!

I don't think weshould be blaming parents. I am a good parent and my child went south. It had nothing to do with my parenting skills. I was present and accountable and raised them with love and respect. It is our society as a whole that is doing the damage. will someone please pay attention to what is seen on tv, film etc. ?? nothing but garbage meant to be entertainment and I believe it has an affect on these kids... Prayers for the man and his family and or the people responsible to come and take some responsibility.

Do not confront a group of teens alone on a Saturday night. Call the police. That's what they are for. Even though a 51 year old man might think he can defend himself, it's very likely he cannot. A middle-aged man cannot take a hard punch to the face.

I hope they find the culprits.

I agree, call the police if you have a noise complaint. That's what they get paid to do. It is even on their website. Sure if it's your neighbor talk to them first, but unknown persons shouldnt be messed with... Even teenage delinquents who you think you can take on. I've used Pleasanton police (call their non-emergency number) to report noise disturbances and they were very responsive and sent out a patrol car right away.

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Coward Bastards...

this equates with attempted murder.

PTown has an excellent jury pool for crimes such as this.

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I hope the witnesses who were with the teens that do this will come forward and call the police immediately to report exactly who did this and cooperate rather than become accessories to the crime.

Bad parenting should include not helping your children pick the "right" friends. If you let him/her hang around troublemakers and you do nothing, that is bad parenting. Yes, you are the parent so you should and do have a say.

Seriously, "!", what on earth does what these hoodlums did have anything to do with your comments about Obamaville and Democrat rule? These were hoodlums who attacked an innocent man outside of his home because they were being too loud! Teens on the other side of our court have had loud parties when their parents were away in the past that have disrupted the entire neighborhood. Neighbors in that court often woke up to broken beer bottles on their front lawns. Not cool! We didn't confront them, but did call the cops to shut the parties down once or twice. People in this city spend a lot of money to live here and expect to feel safe in their neighborhood. Not to have their lives turned upside down by a bunch of people who are likely just living off of their parents and really don't care about anyone else but themselves and their partying.

Well, let's count the mistakes here: Mistake #1 - one or more of the teenagers apparently beat this man into a coma because he complained about the noise. Mistake #2 - the teens then fled the scene, leaving the man alone on the pavement without attempting to administer aid or call an ambulance. Mistake #3 - the teens are now attempting to all lay low, thinking that this will all blow over and the police will never catch them.

Dumb and dumber. Yes, it appears that they were most likely local high school students of the more troublesome type, which narrows down the list of possible suspects considerably. One of them drives a black or dark-colored SUV. They are probably in school today, acting as if nothing happened. High school students have a good network. They know who the troublemakers tend to be. I'll bet many of them have a good ideas for leads on likely suspects, and hope that they will contact the Pleasanton police with any good tips.

My prayers go to the victim and his family.
But are people really still shocked that this is going on? Things like this will continue to happen until a clear message is sent that people under the age of 18 will be charged as criminals when they behave as criminals. Just a few short months ago those boys broke into the Harvest Park school library and smeared feces around and it was deemed “juvenile mischief” by the Pleasanton police and PUSD. I think that sent a pretty clear message that the kids in this community can continue to pull whatever they like and there will NOT be serious consequences. We’ll see what happens in this case.

Many teens are out of control, remember the tee shirts of a few years back, they said Teens Rule, we thought it was funny then. Until there are serious consequences for such actions this behavior will continue. It is totally un acceptable and should be punishable by a minimum of 10 years of labor camp. Keep the ambulance chasing lawyers out of it, they will come up with a hundred reasons why they should not be held accountable. We need a Judge Judy on this one.

Thank you for reaching out to the Pleasanton Weekly with your concern about subjective reporting.

The definition of accost in both Webster's New Dictionary and the Mirriam Webster Dictionary is "to approach and speak to" someone. I understand the connotation is one of boldness or aggressiveness, and accordingly, we've changed the wording to "a confrontation with partiers."

We appreciate your input.

Very sorry this happened and hope is ok soon. Wonder why he did not have a handgun on him.

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Now the crazies are coming out to comment.....
to 'Rudy'......maybe everyone doesn't want to carry a handgun. Isn't it our right to be safe without one.

to'Rob'.... see, this has nothing to do with low income housing. We can have horrendous events like this even without low income housing. Spoiled and entitled teenagers who don't know how to act are in EVERY community.

John,
First, you are completely uninformed. It is entirely possible to charge the parents with criminal negligence, and that is what should be done.
Second, stopping the Cody Hall's of the world has nothing to do with ticketing people for doing 30 mph in a 25 mph zone. BTW, most of those 25 mph zones are illegal by California law, because a very high percentage of drivers drive over 25. The point is, too much police resource is devoted to that as opposed to serious crime prevention.

to NewMom
I think you are living in fantasy land...I never said this was caused by low income housing....as for carrying a gun. unless you have a ccw permit....then its "open carry"...and that is not allowed in Calif anymore thanks to our liberal California Government...Ohhhh..guns are sooo bad...lol....give me a break!!...this man should have gone out there with other neighbors to confront these kids..or called the cops and stayed indoors

TO newmom
Spoiled and entitled teenagers who don't know how to act are in EVERY community.?
So are rotten Parents.

This is so disturbing. I really hope this man pulls through. As for the people saying blame the parents and "what are they doing letting their teens party". I hate to break it to you but teenagers will party, do drugs, have sex and get into fights. Do you really think they are going to listen to their parents if that is what they want to do? A parent can only guide a teenager so much. My parents were great parents but my sister was wild. She was bi-polar and did drugs and there was NO stopping her. If a parent allows kids to party at their home and someone is raped or dies they should be held responsible.

These punks will be caught and I hope they are locked up for most of their lives. They probably have a good idea of who did it. I hope they charge them as adults if they are not yet 18. They won't look so tough when they're in their prison garb!

To Rudy: Rob was 100% right on about carrying a gun. No more open carry laws in this state. Confronting these kids with a handgun would be opening up a big can of worms...best to get a license plate number, description of the people involved, make and year of car. etc, etc. To give to the police, and then let the police handle this.

"The point is, too much police resource is devoted to that as opposed to serious crime prevention."

No it isn't. Irresponsible driving causes more deaths and injuries than "serious crime". Pleasanton police have their priorities straight.

As to charging the parents, unless the parents told these kids to assault that man, or supplied the kids with drugs and/or alcohol, then there is no way they can or should be charged.

They'll probably find these are kids who have been told how 'special' and "unique' they are. Maybe privileged and maybe good students. Sadly drug parties, like we learned about on channel 29 community service shows, go way beyond the 'keggers' of old.
The man may very well have seen a 'local' in the previous gatherings. Obviously, he didn't understand the new more arrogant
'entitlement' mentality. They'll probably have the best lawyers.

The victim should have called the police. In addition, the police should be working to prevent this type of situation from developing by increasing patrols in such neighborhoods on Friday nights.

Mike

The police have quotas on stops/citations so on nights they are busy pulling over people on the main thoroughfares in town for 'speeding' -- Santa Rita, First Street, Hopyard, etc.

There is no city revenue to be had by going up and down the neighborhood streets that go into the dead end hillside/ridgeline cul-de-sacs to patrol these areas, regularly driving up into those cul-de-sacs on the patrol beat.

The city won't begin to patrol those areas until the leadership of the city realizes saving lives is more than important than raising revenue.

To "Horrified",

Cracking down on speeders does save lives. Look at the statistics. You are much more likely to be killed by a reckless driver than an a crime like this. The police are doing the right thing.

You're blaming the victim Mike. People should be able to talk to a group of teens and ask them to keep the noise down without being beaten up. The loss of morals, empathy and respect by youth is a big problem.

Beaten into a coma? angry angry kids with probably too much booze and I pray that someone, a "friend" notifies the police if they know who... and they have 2 tennagers as well? obviously not friends of theirs.. so sad. and yes the whole Obama comments? what the... There are some good kids in this town folks, rich or not, doing the right things. Let's pray he recovers

Rob and Bill,

It is completely legal to carry a concealed weapon on your own property as long as you do not brandish it as you walk around. Long guns are good on all fronts and you can have them in your garage as I do because it cannot be considered something which you can conceal.

Related to a concealed weapon without a permit. Not a big deal even if you are caught as long as you are not a felon and it is your first offense. Likely a misdemeanor and a fine.

I have a part time residence in Kings County and the sheriff issued me a permit through the mail and it is good throughout the whole states and most states honor it. It is your right to protect yourself and your family. Just make sure you get enrolled in a gun safety class so that you know how to safely handle it and you will not have a problem.

I pray the victim recovers!!! This is a STUPID RIDICULOUS CRIME!!!
Where were the parents!!! The parents are more responsible than the teenagers. I hope the parents & the morons that did this senseless crime read what people posted and feel extremly BAD and come forward!!! No reason for this nonsense!!! I hope the criminals get caught and go to jail a very long time. If the poor man don't make it the teenagers should turn themselves in and get the death penalty!!!This is just soo sickning!!!

Wow people, it sounds like you all know exactly what happened beween this man and the teenagers. Please let the police finish the investigation before you convict anyone.

Rudy wrote: "Very sorry this happened and hope is ok soon. Wonder why he did not have a handgun on him."

Please, Rudy, I hope that you're not the type of person who thinks that possessing a gun is the universal solution to any problem. Yeah, you can contemplate what would have happened if the homeowner had a gun. But then I can just as easily contemplate what would have happened if one or more of the teens had guns, too. Then we would have had a situation in which one or more people - including the homeowner - were dead or seriously injured with gunshot wounds AND with multiple pieces of high-speed dangerous metal objects (i.e., bullets) flying through the air in an otherwise peaceful neighborhood and threatening the lives of everyone else living there. Not much of an improvement over what actually happened, is it?

All could have been avoided if the victim called the police and let them handle the situation. Unfortunately that did not happen, and until the police reveal the facts of this particular situation people should not be so judgmental.

If he had gone out to quiet the teenagers for making noises around midnight on a Saturday night and had taken a gun with him, he could have shot all the potential offenders before they had a chance to mock him for being such a stick in the mud. Those teens have no business partying on a Saturday night. They should have been home studying.

did this man confront them in a threatening manner ? was he physically confrontational ? does anybody have this info. ?

Hopefully, the guilty will be caught and punished. Tragic story.

As someone said, lets see what the investigation reveals. I can see from comments above some are trying set up reasons for nearly beating a man to death. Oh, he had a gun, (how does one know that, if they were't there), Oh, he was threatening (1 person against how many?) Trying to make the victim the criminal doesnt work without proof.

Just like the kid who killed the woman riding her bike on Foothill...and his grandparents bailed him out...these parents will do the same. Little to no consequences...and defending perpetrators of crimes. Shameful what we are doing to teach our children. Someone out there knows who is responsible and is not saying. Saturday night at midnight...do you know where your child was?

Defending the criminals...you either did it, know someone who did it, have done it, or you are just stupid.

"concerned parent" wrote: "All could have been avoided if the victim called the police and let them handle the situation. Unfortunately that did not happen, and until the police reveal the facts of this particular situation people should not be so judgmental."

You should have been a lawyer.

Even though we weren't there and don't know exactly what happened leading up to the violence, we do know for an absolute fact what the teens did afterwards:

FACT: The teens did NOT stop to attempt to render medical assistance to the man nor did they call an ambulance for him. They left him alone and unconscious on the dark pavement. Pretty difficult to put a positive spin on that.

FACT: The teens did NOT call the police to report what had happened, and they still have NOT reported to the police despite the fact that this story is in all of the local news. They are without question AVOIDING the police to the best of their abilities.

So, no, there is no way of looking at the teens' actions in a positive light.

(Comment partially removed by Pleasanton Weekly Online staff) Prayers to the family of this man. I pray he makes a full recovery. What is wrong with these kids? How could they just leave him there like that? Unbelievable.....

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wow- that didnt take long to start racial profiling and stereotyping. Seems to me the biggest crimes that have happened in this town in the last 6 months have been committed by kids who are from here.

Im assuming you were kidding Frankie. Studies show that responses like yours (just shoot the kids, overpaid first responders ) come from a certain kind of citizen. I can see it now- we all just should go out into our front yards and shoot those who are being noisy and disturbing us...oh wait, that sounds like East Oakland.

My sympathies go out to the family of this horrendous crime.

There are many opinions on what the gentleman should have done - however I have been in his situation in the past and have done the same thing. You don't want to call the police for what should be an easy task. The kids have stayed too long and they're being too loud. You nicely go out and say, "Okay kids, it's time to move on - it's late and you're disturbing the neighbors. Let's go on home". In the past, most kids in Pleasanton would have said sorry - okay - and left. NOT ANY LONGER. I've lived here 25 years and currently reside on a dead end street. In the last year, I've had two situations where young people were doing drugs right under the street lamp in front of my house. When I called the police department - I was advised that it was a city street and asked how I knew the kids were doing drugs. My response, "Because I can see them - they're under the light right in front of my window. I was then told it was a busy night in town and someone would come when they could. The kids got back in their vehicles and drove off well before a law enforcement officer was able to come.

I will no longer go out and coax the kids to move on -but nor will I feel good about kids driving off into town under the influence of the drugs I witnessed being done under my street light. Parents......please parent your young adults. Know where they are - who they're with and what they're doing. It will benefit you, them and our wonderful community.

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In the future, I'll be confronting unruly teenagers with a concealed pistol and camcorder mounted on my shoulder. If they attack, they'll get the Trayvon treatment!

To: stand your ground. WHAT is 'threatening'?? shouting?, swearing at them?, dialing 911 with cell?, shooting in air?....such a RANGE. So you are saying IF he was 'threatening' then it's OK to beat him to death.?? Gee, I'd really hate to have a 'deep thinker' like you in our jury system.

The person who did this crime must have a swollen hand... Teachers look at your students.

How about Parents look at your kids hands. If there is any doubt, check out the situation. Why do parents always expect teachers to be the most observant ones,parents need to be responsible for their OWN kids, not pawn their kids off on teachers. Teachers are there to teach academics, not manners and respect that should be taught at HOME.

Good PARENTS are aware of what their kids are doing. Keep open communication with your kids, get to know your kids friends. Kids under the influence obviously act differently, be aware of your kids actions.

This is such a tragic thing. I hope the man recovers.

Pleasanton Weekly: take these message boards down. They do not serve a useful purpose, unless one finds driving up the level of hysteria and gossip to be productive.

hmmm maybe we should all wear google glass.

Pleasanton Resident wrote: "take these message boards down. They do not serve a useful purpose..."

I disagree. It's important to have a place for the community to share information in cases like these. There are, as always, the usual childish posts from our local village idiots, but there are a lot of good posts, too. Information sharing is important: For example, in the case of Cody Hall the information about his boasting about his speeding habits on social media sites was first revealed by someone posting on these PW forums.

Pleasanton Resident,

Actually I feel quite the opposite. Keep it up because in my opinion and the opinion of others around the city this is an issue which needs to be discussed. First I feel terrible about what happened to this man and hope that everything turns out well for him and he recovers quickly and fully.

On the other hand when I moved here in the 70's the population was only 28,000 in Pleasanton, Livermore maybe 30,000, and Dublin maybe half if that and you knew when you were going from city to city because there was actually open land. When you entered town down main street it was one lane each way and liquor stores on the left side and bars and the police station on the left side. No traffic, great schools, no crime to speak of etc. and it was a great place to live and raise a family but times have changed and some say for the better and some say for the worst but we have experienced significant population growth and with it all the issues both good and bad.

We have more money to spend by virtue of our increased tax revenue and I believe we have overspent it rewarding our public servants to the future detriment of our city and our finances and not to distant future. We also have crime increasing significantly and some of it extremely violently. Just in the last few years we have seen a mother and father beaten to death in their home in Castlewood by the son, multiple bank robberies, robberies of 7/11's, assaults of main street after excessive drinking and probably drugs, meth lab raids, Chinese restaurant robbed twice at gunpoint, and now this and on and on.

I never hear of anyone being caught in these situations or very few and I think people genuinely fear for their safety and you can see it with what is written above and what is said around time.

Some will say that they love the police and all that polly anna stuff but my experience and observations are that they only care about writing a few speeding tickets and do not want to confront real issues. They are more concerned about their pensions and getting their retirements early than they are on confronting teenagers and their condoning parents. I have only called the police once in all my years here and not long ago. When i called by their own dispatchers records it took them 30 minutes to get here. Folks you should call the police but I would encourage all of you to develop an additional protection plan of your own to protect your family, loved ones, and property.

Our city official need to be held accountable for their actions and lack of action. There is no way to turn back the clock nor should we but do not think that this is still the quaint small, quiet Mayberry it used to be.

This is so sad and my thoughts and prayers go out to this gentleman and his family. I hope he makes a full recovery.

That being said, after reading the previous posts, most of you have no clue. I have lived in Ptwn for 15 years. Raised kids that are now in college. Neither one of them ever got into any trouble with the law, including the very common MIP's and provisional license violations.

However, I cannot say that about many of their friends. Most of my kid's friends had run ins with the law from an early age, for curfew issues, riding bikes and skateboards w/o helmets, numerous driving violations, including under age DUI. What I found was a common denominator was the fact that these kids had no consequence for their actions and their parents threw money at them left and right.

These parents raised entitled children that are clueless to how a society is supposed to act. Kids barely pass high school, lets send them out of state to a junior college,chacing! kid gets tickets or totals cars, let's buy them new ones (we already have a very public example of this scenario),chaging! they get into trouble, "OK, don't do it again".

For God sakes parents, teach your kids right from wrong; punish them when they do wrong, make them understand there are consequences for their actions. When are you going to learn, you are not their friend, you are their parent?

PPD needs to step it up. Every weekend there are kids partying EVERYWHERE in Ptwn. Upper Ruby is the worst place. But the graffiti train tracks are bad. ALL the parks are bad. PPD needs to patrol these, in unmarked cars, catch these kids and the courts need to throw the book at them. I cannot tell you how many underage kids I know that have DUI's or MIP's that are out drinking weeknights and weekends, posting it on their social media sites. They laugh at the punishment they getfrom the courts...community service...hahaha.

This is serious, these kids need to be caught. They have no regard for human life. They need to be stopped before they do this again.

I agree with Sam from Oak Hill. There should be a way to search all instagram and twitter and facebook posts made around Pleasanton about midnight the night that this happened. Does anyone know how to do that? The punks that did this crime probably boasted about it on some social media website.

There should also be a way for the police to see who exactly was up on that ridge in the Bonde open space prior to the attack by looking a cell tower logs. Instant messages and calls made to and from that location would hit the nearest cell tower. I hope that they have had a judge sign a search warrant and are searching the cell tower logs.

I hope the police has searched the crime scene and the open space above where this happened for evidence. I wouldn't be surprised if the DNA of whoever did this is all over the place up there.

Anon,

I agree with your post and in addition their are no parents at home during the daytime and most of these kids spent their younger years in daycare during the day. I bet in most cases around town there is not parents at home until 6 or so.

Removed by Pleasanton Weekly staff as inappropriate.

@Lee - I really hope your post is a joke.

How about all you from the pitchfork and torch crowd wait until the law enforcement investigation is complete before you condemn most of Pleasanton parents and daycare operators as unfit.

Thoughts and prayers to the Lamont Family. David will recover. (Likely)
Thoughts and prayers to the community to knock some sense into the teenage world that such partying as this makes them look very pathetic and useless, that they would be better off finding higher quality entertainment with other family, friends, or shows. (Not likely)
Thoughts and prayers to the teen world and all of society that alternate entertainment options will be available besides socially corrupting video games like Grand Theft Auto and others that influence teens to carry out similar violence in real life like what happened to Mr. Lamont. (Billions of dollars in sales ahead of the highest TV, Music, & Sports successes ever; how pathetically deplorable - still unlikely to shift directions)

protect yourself and your family....use any means possible...remember...when seconds count,the police are minutes away.

to Rudy, a resident of the Bonde Ranch neighborhood.
get caught with a concealed handgun WITHOUT a permit and watch how fast you end up in jail
as for having a concealed weapon on you WITHIN your home...not a problem...walk down the sidewalk or the street with your unloaded long rifle...watch how fast you are face down in the dirt spread eagle with loaded pistols aimed at you head.

to Micky, a resident of the Canyon Oaks neighborhood,
love your post !!!

Lee, a resident of the Ruby Hill neighborhood,
I hope my kids never meet your kids.
Plus if you post is true you are a big part of the problem.

To Lessismore a member of the Amador Valley High School community
Bravo !!!...love the post !!

If everybody in Plutonia contributed $1-$5 to a reward fund to find the criminal perpetrators of this horrific crime, somebody would likely come forward with information leading to an arrest.

It is a parents job to teach their children right from wrong, and be clear about what is expected from them. They are children. They need boundaries. They need to know what, in your household and in the world in general, is unaccepted behavior and what the consequences are for unaccepted behavior. You chose to have them. They are YOUR responsibility.

There are parents who don't parent because they are too busy working 2 jobs to make ends meet or being a CEO, because they are too busy going to the gym or going to the bar, or even because they are volunteering in the community - or maybe they don't work at all but just plain don't want to raise kids- it doesn't really matter. Their kids for the most part don't turn out to respect others and laws. A child needs to be taught how to act, and how to get along in society and it has nothing to do with socioeconomics, religion, race or anything else. It has to do with teaching them from a young age how to act.

I don't care how this started and I am not saying Mr. Lamont acted appropriately; I have no idea. And kids who were taught right from wrong will make mistakes along the way. But I do believe that a group of kids old enough to drive, who have been brought up to know the difference between right and wrong, does not leave a human being in the road to die. Period. If Mr. Lamont was the aggressor, call 911, get an ambulance and explain it to the police. If not, STILL call 911, say the whole thing went terribly wrong and you need an ambulance, get the man help and face the responsibility for what you did. I think you will find that the end result would have been better if you had taken that route.

bill of Valley Trails,

the guy is right and this is not chicago. you get caught with a gun concealed without a permit and first time offense. it will be a misdeanor and maybe a small fine. you can carry a concealed weapon without a permit anywhere on your property, house, backyard, side yard, front yard as long as you do not flash it around. long guns are fine anywhere, in your trunk, garage, et al. any knife with a blade less than 9.5 inches is ok unless it is a switchblade or in the case of la you are around a school and is fully legal.

here is something to ponder though. a baseball bat in your vehicle which as been modified and shortened is a felony. go figure. don't believe me? make friends with a cop or da and they will fill in the facts for you.

Well since no article has stated there was a gun, knife, baseball bat, or any other means that could be used as a weapon found at the scene, I highly doubt Mr. Lamont went outside with anything except a plea to the kids to quiet down and/or leave his neighborhood. And that is and should be reasonable for anyone to do, especially after midnight. I'm sure in hindsight his family wishes they would have called police. But as someone stated in a comment earlier, you would like to believe you don't need to call the police for every little thing and every little noise. Apparently, now we do. I pray for David Lamont and his family. And I certainly hope PPD is being more vigilant than ever in finding the persons responsible for this horrific and cowardly act and bringing them to justice.

Parents could help the investigation if they questioned their kids if the kids were not at home during the time that this happened. Better yet - they should take responsibility and keep tabs on the whereabouts of their kids so this won't happen again.

Prayers for a miracle for this devastated family.

To Lessismore a member of the Amador Valley High School community


Bravo !!!...love the post !!

Louise,

You are right but if these kids had parents that would question their kids, they wouldn't have been in this situation to begin with. I suspect some of the kids were "quasi-innocent" and are already spilling their guts to the police in order to avoid severe consequences when they are eventually caught. They will be caught.

Prayers for Mr. Lamont's full recovery.

Disgusted, I agree.

The police are probably waiting for Mr. Lamont to come out of the coma in order to have a positive eyewitness ID of the thugs involved in this, then there will many arrests for attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, etc.

"Raised 2 good kids" wrote: "I don't care how this started and I am not saying Mr. Lamont acted appropriately; I have no idea."

You make some good points in your post, but I don't think that it was appropriate to write the sentence above. There is absolutely no reason or evidence to suggest that Mr. Lamont was acting inappropriately on that night. What's so shocking about this case is that he was apparently acting in the same manner that you or I or just about any other Pleasanton homeowner would act if there was a group of noisy teenagers partying on the street outside around midnight on a Friday evening. He may have done it in an extremely nice manner, or he may have been a bit irate at the teens, but you no more justification for suggesting that he acted "inappropriately" than I do for suggesting that you beat your dog.

On the other hand, we have plenty of facts indicating that the teens acted "inappropriately": They left a man unconscious on the pavement in the middle of the night; they did not attempt to administer first-aid or call for an ambulance; they did not attempt to notify the nearby neighbors that a man needed medical help. No, they simply sped off into the night in their cars and SUVs. Furthermore, they did not call the police and are now laying low and avoiding police contact.

So based on the available evidence, I suggest that what happened was that the teens viciously assaulted a man and ran off like cowards. Note that unlike your suggestion, mine is based on factual evidence. Feel free to correct me if you have any factual evidence at all to support your suggestion that the homeowner may not have been behaving "appropriately". The teens involved here are free to go to the police station anytime and tell their side of the story.

The Patch just posted an update that says there are at least 3 Pleasanton teenagers and an 18 year old from another area that have been identified as being present. The 18 year old is being characterized as "a person of interest."

THis is the update from the Pleasanton PD website:

"Pleasanton Police Detectives identified four individuals who were present during an altercation in which Pleasanton homeowner David Lamont was left unconscious shortly after midnight on September 21, 2013. Three are Pleasanton teens and the fourth is an 18 year old who does not reside in the local area and is not currently in Pleasanton. All of the involved parties have been cooperative and met with investigators. The adult from out of the area has been identified as a person of interest in the assault and we have no reason to believe there were any additional people present or involved in the incident. The Pleasanton teens are considered witnesses only at this time.

We do not intend to make an immediate arrest or disclose the identities of the involved subjects as the investigation is currently ongoing. Although Mr. Lamont remains in critical condition in a local hospital, detectives are hopeful they will be able to speak with him in the future to determine his recollection of the incident. The police department believes this is an isolated incident and will continue to diligently investigate the matter. Pleasanton detectives have remained in close contact with the family throughout the investigation.

The Pleasanton Police Department is asking for the assistance of anyone who may have information related to this crime. They are encouraged to call the Pleasanton Police Department at (925) 931-5100.

Address/Location
Pleasanton Police Department
4833 Bernal Ave
Pleasanton, CA 94566"

Sam, have you been privy to some information that the rest of us are not? You seem to indicate that you know exactly how it all happened that night. The homeowner has not even given a statement yet. By the way, all but one of the teenagers ARE talking to the police.

Reading some of the newer comments just now, made me think of last Friday when I was going into Safeway, about 4:30 to get myself some hot soup, which of course was GONE, and a burned out pot. I parked near the entrance and in those short steps I became aware of a horde of Sr. like locusts coming out the door with others clustered around the 2 tables. The reason Sr came to mind, earlier in the day in some other lot I had seen a 'decorated' car, something about 'cool Seniors' and thought to myself, 'wow, I guess seniors party on Friday's when school STARTS, not just when it's graduation week'. So the horde coming out of Safeway, made me remember that morning. I just remember a girl in levis shorts that had been so cutoff there was little left. I flashed back to my HS days in the previous century of wearing 'perfect, proper' dresses appropriate for a job interview. Times have changed. I remember thinking to myself, times have changed, I'm sure they're all good students. I have no idea who was buying what inside the store, if anything. I did wonder if they were meeting to head off to a 'kegger' like the last century, only in the Summer when there was no school.

"Fed up" wrote: "Sam, have you been privy to some information that the rest of us are not?"

You need to develop better reading habits. Feel free to dispute any of the facts that I stated. As for the teenagers, they may be talking to the police now - and let's leave aside the question of whether they contacted the police or the police contacted them - but the facts still stand that they sped off leaving a man unconscious on the pavement in the middle of the night and they did not immediately contact the police.

Sam, did not mean to offend. Just meant we do not know the facts. Only the teenagers and the Homeowner do. We can guess what happened. Many of us are making a lot of assumptions.

What has happened is so outrageous is that it would not surprise me if the 18 year old 'person of interest' and the 3 teens have come up with some completely false accusation blaming the homeowner from starting it in the first place. It isn't uncommon for people to completely make up things, then perjure themselves in the process. There is someone on 'topix' posting under 'billy' from antelope ca saying that a teen was attacked first. I wonder if this billy person is the supposed 18 year old person of interest from outside the area that the police are referring to.

@"Fed up" - It's true that we do not know all the facts. It's also true that we know some of the facts concerning the behavior of the participants on that night.

Please stop the anger and arguing. Let's show this family that we can come together as a community to support them. Even without the facts, a man with two daughters and a wife if fighting for his life and was beaten by someone else. There's no circumstance under which this is justifiable.

As the parent of teens myself, I do worry about the increased violence I think we are seeing among our teenage violation. Is this just me, or are others seeing it to.

I will pray for the Lamont family and know I speak for the entire community in offering to help in any and all ways possible.

Those involved will ultimately be caught and held responsible. It sounds like the case is progressing. I'm like many that want justice NOW, but I think the PPD has proven recently that they've been able to handle some of these more complex cases that have unfortunately hit our town with care and such that whatever charges that can be filed stick. Let's pray for them too as they work their way through the incident and hope that those responsible step up and take responsibility. Please forgive the dig, but perhaps these teens can teach Cody Hall something.

An account was set up for people to donate money to them to help with bills - Web Link

Pleasanton-area folks, I met David Lamont and his wife Agnes today while I was shopping at Raley's. It is with tremendous pleasure that I am able to report that miraculously, he is doing just fine, and has made a very full and complete recovery. The Lamonts are very appreciative of all of the prayers and well wishes from everyone in the community, friends and strangers alike. It was such a joy to meet them, and to be able to express to them in person how genuinely happy and relieved I am to know that he is doing so well. It is a moment I will never forget.

Deborah, Thanks for your post. I intend to keep posting here in the hope that PW will heed my request to do a follow up story.

The Lamonts prefer to not be interviewed for a follow-up. From what I understand they are ready to put this behind them.

But thank you to Deborah for letting us know Mr. Lamont is doing well!