Cellphone video allegedly shows a group of teens attacking Juan Ramos in Polk County, Fla., on May 5, 2025 (Polk County Sheriff’s Office). Inset top: Juan Ramos (PCSO). Insets bottom, left to right: Eathan Simmons, Dalton Creach, and Westlee Davis II (PCSO).
A group of Florida teens brutally beat a man “senseless” last week, jumping on him “like a bunch of pack animals” and repeatedly striking him “with a sickening rage,” police say.
The attack happened Monday, May 5, around 11:40 p.m. in Polk County. Police report that four teens, three of whom are over 18 and charged as adults, told authorities they attacked the victim because he was “bothering an autistic friend” of theirs, according to a Polk County Sheriff’s Office press release.
Juan Ramos, 35, told police he was talking to a man at a Mulberry car wash on North Church Avenue when the group suddenly attacked him.
“Next thing I know, I’m getting pounded,” Ramos recalled to NBC affiliate WFLA from his hospital bed.
“I didn’t know what was going on,” he said.
The teens charged as adults include Ethan Simmons, 18, and Westlee Davis II, 18, both facing attempted second-degree murder, aggravated battery with bodily harm, rioting, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Dalton Creach, 19, is charged with rioting and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Police have also requested that a 17-year-old involved be charged as an adult with attempted murder, aggravated battery with bodily harm, rioting, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
PCSO officials say Ramos admitted to being intoxicated during the incident and on probation, which initially kept him from reporting the attack. His wife ended up calling the police, and detectives urged Ramos to come forward and help put the teens behind bars.
“They beat him without mercy,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a Friday press briefing. “Jumped on him like a bunch of pack animals.”
Ramos suffered serious facial injuries, including a broken nose, broken jaw, multiple lacerations, and swelling. The sheriff’s office released a hospital photo showing the extent of his injuries, along with cellphone footage of the alleged attack.
“I’m going to share with you something that is animalistic,” Judd told reporters about the video. “It’s horrible. You can’t believe in today’s society that people will care so little for another human being.”
Judd added police are trying to identify the autistic friend the teens claim they were defending, but investigators hadn’t found that person as of Friday. Ramos told authorities he was merely talking to someone about their car when the teens attacked.
“No matter the circumstances, no one should be beaten like that,” Judd said. “In a free society, we don’t treat people like that. That conduct’s not acceptable in Polk County.”
