Woodward man badly beaten, found lying in road
WOODWARD, Okla. (KFOR) — Woodward Police said they found a man badly beaten lying in the street on Sunday just before 2 a.m. Police are investigating and no one is in custody right now.
"We were notified by passing motorists of a male subject laying in the roadway at the intersection of 8th and Oklahoma," said Captain Darren Navratil.
Police said 34-year-old Matt Babcock looked like he was beaten up.
His family posted on social media and said Babcock's eye sockets are broken, the bleeding in his brain is stabilized, and his lips are badly swollen.
Another post said Babcock is gay and his family wants justice, saying, “this is an absolute hate crime, this wasn’t random.”
For now, police are investigating the incident as an assault and battery looking for the person or people who did this.
"As far as motive, motivations for that, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. At this point, we're not going to speculate as to what the motivation may have been," said Navratil.
Police said they’re looking into a possible lead from doorbell footage nearby that looks like it was recorded before Babcock was found in the road.
"It does not look like at that time that he had been assaulted," said Navratil.
Another lead police are following is what may have happened before the beating.
"We suspect that this may have originated at a local bar. So there are going to be witnesses to talk to. We just have to get them in and talk to them to find out what may have led up to this," said Navratil.
Police said they’re working to find out more, but the Babcock's injuries are so bad, they said he can’t remember anything that happened.
That means they’re relying on talking to witness and possible suspects to get answers.
Babcock was airlifted to the hospital and has been treated and released.