Man accused of yelling racial slurs, throwing rocks at father and daughter fishing in Mass. pleads not guilty
The man accused of a racist attack targeting a father and daughter who were fishing in Massachusetts pled not guilty Monday in Fitchburg District Court.
David McPartlan, 67, faces a number of charges including assault with a dangerous weapon and intimidation after police say he hurled racial slurs and threw rocks at Sheron Brown and his 10-year-old daughter who were out fishing on Lake Shirley in Lunenburg last month.
Cellphone video taken by Brown allegedly shows McPartlan yelling racial slurs at him and his daughter. Investigators say he then proceeded to throw rocks at them. Brown was in the courtroom as McPartlan was arraigned.
"Shocked and dismayed"
"I want to make sure justice is served for my daughter and myself. I am still shocked and dismayed about the situation. I'm kind of losing sleep at night. It kind of bothers me when I think about it," Brown said.
At the time of the incident, McPartlan told police that the father and daughter were fishing too close to his dock and asked them to leave. Brown says he's been a competitive fisherman for decades and has fished on the lake several times and won two tournaments there.
He says he picked the area because it's the safest place for his daughter to fish. "He did not want me to fish by his property. No lake resident owns the water. I was just fishing the water; I wasn't fishing his property or touching his property. He literally came out of his house walked toward the shore edge and started berating me," Brown said.
Brown called 911 and reported the incident. WBZ knocked on the door of McPartlan's home but he did not answer.
Daughter still processing incident
Outside the courthouse Brown says his daughter is still processing the frightening incident.
"She has not asked to go fishing yet. It's been a couple of weeks and start of the summer so hopefully she still feels confident going out with her dad. The safest place for a child is with their parent. My safest place for me is out in my boat out on the water so it kind of goes hand in hand and now that's kind of disrupted right now," Brown said. "We asked God to forgive the mean man and hopefully things get better."
McPartlan was released on his own recognizance. He's been ordered to stay away from Brown and his family. He is due back in court on July 29.
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