Middlefield Teens Could Face Hate Crimes Charges for Assault on Amish

June 2, 2023

Four Middlefield teenagers could be charged with hate crimes after they admitted to throwing dozens of eggs at Amish in buggies on May 25.

One of the Amish men assaulted with the eggs is blind in his left eye as a result of the attack.

Geauga County Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand said a 65-year-old Amish man who lives on Burton Windsor Road in Huntsburg Township called the sheriff’s office on May 31 to report he was struck by an egg thrown from a moving vehicle.

The man told a sheriff’s deputy that on May 25, at around 9:45 p.m., he and his wife were driving their covered buggy — which did not have a windshield — northbound on Bundysburg Road when a truck approached them from the north with its low beams on. The truck then turned on its bright lights and thereafter the man was hit in the eye with an egg, causing it to bleed. The man’s wife  drove them to a friend’s house down the road and from there a driver took them to UH Geauga Medical Center. He later was transferred to UH Cleveland.

The man was released from the hospital on May 27 and was told he would be permanently blind in his left eye.

“We started investigating it and we heard some rumors,” Hildenbrand said. “Our detectives went out and viewed some video from different stores of people buying large quantities of eggs, got some names, did some follow up. They ultimately found out that these kids had purchased seven dozen eggs from the Dollar General in Huntsburg and were throwing them at the Amish.”

He added the four teenagers, all from Middlefield and ages 15 and 16, are Yankees who attend Cardinal Schools.

“Since the story got out, we’ve got two more victims,” Hildenbrand said. “One guy was hit in the face with two eggs. He was in an open cart and the other guy was in a buggy, and they threw a whole dozen eggs at him. Same day and same area.”

The Amish man in the open cart was temporarily blind in one eye, but has regained his vision, the sheriff said. The third Amish man hit with the eggs was not injured.

Hildenbrand said his detectives interviewed the teenagers June 1.

“So far they’ve all admitted to it. They admitted to throwing them at the Amish, they were throwing them at street signs,” he said. “Just driving around thinking they were having a good time.”

The sheriff said the teenagers were not arrested because they are juveniles. However, their cases will be sent to the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office for appropriate charges.

“There’s a possibility that they could be charged with a hate crime, if they were targeting only the Amish,” explained Hildenbrand, adding that other than streets signs there is no evidence they were throwing eggs at anyone other than the Amish.

“It appears they were not just throwing them (eggs) at the buggies, they were throwing them inside the buggies,” he said. “It appears that they were intentionally trying to hit the people and not just the buggies. As they approached them (Amish), they turned on their bright lights so the Amish couldn’t see them, the victims couldn’t see them, and then they whipped these eggs inside the buggies or at the people, not at the object.”