Federal agencies looking at Owens' case

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Mobile Mayor Sam Jones announced Wednesday that the city has called the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to look at the investigation into the assault on Matthew Owens .

Matthew Owens was assaulted on Saturday. He is in fair condition at USA Medical Center.

Alexander Almond represents the Owens family. He said they are focusing on his recovery.

“He is still in very poor condition but the family has their hopes high for him,” said Almond.

Police have arrested 44-year-old Terry Rawl s in connection with the crime.

“This type of violence under no circumstance will be tolerated in Mobile,” said Jones.

Deputy Chief Lester Hargrove said Rawls was one of four people police believe assaulted Owens.

“There will be more arrests, and we will make it public as it pans out,” said Hargrove.

Jones said the decision to call in the other agencies isn’t a reflection on the police department and district attorney’s office. He said they’ve decided to call in other agencies because of the public’s speculation over whether this crime was racially charged.

“It’s been reported to the media that this is in some way in conjunction with something that happened in Sanford, Florida, and we want to make sure that if there are some implications for that the FBI and the U.S. Attorney will look into that. If that’s something that happened, and they think they have the evidence to charge (them); let them charge. If it didn’t happen, we want to make that determination,” said Jones.

The mayor and police department urge the public to wait for the facts before jumping to conclusions about what caused the attack. He said they have seen no evidence of racial motivation and can’t go off of speculation.

“That’s without fact, without the evidence of the investigation, without ascertaining all the facts. And we don’t have the luxury of doing that, we have to ascertain the facts. We have to have a full investigation and let that drive us,” said Jones.

Mayor Jones said hate crimes are a federal matter, and although they have not seen evidence as such, it will be the federal agencies to determine.

There have been reports that Trayvon Martin’s name was mentioned during the assault.

Captain Christon Dorsey said they have looked into that statement but see no evidence that that was the truth.

“At this point, we’ve been able to attribute that to one source, and we’ve not been able to corroborate it,” said Dorsey.

“It’s not uncommon for someone to make a statement to someone else and when investigators go to them they don’t make the same statement,” said Jones.

Metro Jail records shows Rawls is in jail with a $7,500 bond. Almond spoke to the victim’s sister about the amount.

“The bond amount upset her a little bit. For the most part, they are very happy that the investigation is going on, and they are making progress,” said Almond.

Police said Rawls and Owens have had confrontations before. They believe the assault was more sparked by those confrontations than race.

“It was nobody that came out of a neighborhood or another part of the city and jumped on Mr. Owens. Mr. Owens and Mr. Rawls had problems in this neighborhood,” said Hargrove.

Neighbors have reported that Owens was making racial slurs to the children playing basketball before the attack.

“That’s part of the investigation were conducting, and we are looking at aspects similar to that,” said Dorsey.

Police said Rawls is one of four people they believe assaulted Owens. The rest of people reported around at the time they believe are just spectators.