JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman told News4JAX a man used racist language before he attacked her on Monday inside an Arlington gas station.
The attack that happened on Monday at a gas station on University Boulevard was recorded from store surveillance video and shared with News4JAX by the 23-year-old victim, Rayme McCoy, who is Black.
McCoy said she walked into the gas station near her home and was followed by an older white man who was already involved in an argument with someone outside.
McCoy said the man was “ranting and raving” and using racist language and at one point, the man walked toward the counter where McCoy was standing and she asked him to back up. That’s when the man said he had a gun in his car, McCoy said.
“So at that point, I felt threatened,” McCoy said. “He put his beers on the counter in front of my stuff and I slid them over and at that point, that’s when he started punching me in the face.”
Video shared with News4JAX, which does not contain audio of the exchange, shows the man with a mustache and a green shirt punching McCoy in the face at least 10 times before he walks out of the store. The video was also posted on social media and shared thousands of times.
“I was literally shocked,” she said. “After the first hit, you can see my mouth drop. After actually seeing the video it’s just shocking to see there was other people there and nobody did anything.”
McCoy said the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded and the clerk gave an officer the man’s license plate number. A police report was filed for the incident with the alleged crime listed as battery.
McCoy said she felt dizzy after the attack and was left with cuts and bruises on her face so she went to a local hospital to get checked out.
At least two witnesses to the incident were interviewed by police, a report shared by McCoy shows. We tried to contact them but they did not immediately return our calls. News4JAX also tried speaking with the people at the gas station but they didn’t want to comment.
McCoy said Thursday, as far as she knows, no arrest has been made.
“I just hope that they actually find him and that they actually do something about it,” McCoy said. “I want real charges to be brought not just something simple, like this is an actual hate crime based on everything he was saying and like screaming out, I just feel like it should be, you know, a bigger charge given to him.”
The JSO report obtained by News4JAX does not classify the attack as a hate crime.
In a social media post where she called the attack a “racist rampage,” McCoy said the man drove away from the gas station in an orange Chevrolet Sonic hatchback.
The police report said JSO has probable cause for an arrest.
Anyone who knows the identity of the man should call JSO.
The Jacksonville Branch NAACP sent News4JAX a statement Thursday evening, saying it is outraged at the video.
“The actions of the suspect in this video is completely unacceptable and appears to be racially motivated, there is absolutely no excuse for his behaviors,” Isiah Rumlin, president of the NAACP, said in the statement.
The Northside Coalition is calling on city officials to address issues of racism in Jacksonville.
It sent News4JAX a statement that reads in part: “We must move with all deliberate speed to stem the rising tide of hate crimes. There are too many incidents and reports of verbal harassment and physical attacks against average citizens, students, and teachers.”