From staff reports
—
A man who was mugged late Friday night near downtown Joplin was taken to a hospital with an apparent broken jaw, while the victim of an assault the following night in the same neighborhood suffered a concussion, according to Joplin police reports.
Ethan D. Jessie, 22, told officers that he was walking home from a store with a case of beer about 11:45 p.m. Friday and stopped to talk with a group of people at 10th Street and Sergeant Avenue.
Police Cpl. Chuck Niess said Jessie told police that several men in the group began accusing him of taking car keys belonging to one of them, and then hit him and took his beer. Niess said Jessie was taken to a hospital for treatment of an apparent broken jaw.
Officers responding about 6:30 p.m. Saturday to a reported disturbance at 11th Street and Moffet Avenue found DeSean B. White, 41, lying in the street unconscious. He was taken to the emergency room at Freeman Hospital West, where it was determined that he had suffered a concussion from an apparent assault.
Niess said a witness reported seeing another man kick White in the head when he slipped and fell during a fight with the assailant.
