Man accused of hurling rocks, racial slurs at father and daughter fishing on Massachusetts lake

CBS News

2 days ago

A father-daughter day on a lake in Lunenburg, Massachusetts ended with a 911 call they say because of a stranger who hurled rocks and racial slurs at them. Police said that stranger, David McPartlan, is now facing charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault to intimidate.
With the catch of the day in hand, it should have been the perfect daddy-daughter day for Sheron Brown and his 10-year-old girl on Lake Shirley.
Incident captured on video
But their Memorial Day was marred by a man seen on video admitting he called them racial slurs and hurled rocks at them.
"I was really angry," said Brown. "I'm sad that I had to deal with this with my daughter. I'm sad that I have to explain these things to her."
"I didn't expect in our Zen, in our passion, in our field of play, in our home from home, that she would be confronted with a racist situation," added Brown.
Sheron Brown said a man hurled rocks and racial slurs at him and his daughter while they were fishing in Lunenburg, Mass.
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Lunenburg police say McPartlan said the father and daughter were fishing too close to his dock and asked them to leave.
However, Brown, a competitive fisherman since 1998 who's fished on the lake for years, wanted to be in the no wake zone because it was the safest place for his daughter to fish on a busy holiday weekend.
"He just starts telling me, I can't fish here I shouldn't be here and I should go somewhere else and I'm like, but you didn't say anything to anybody else, I said there were three boats that were actually fishing close to your dock," said Brown.
Words escalated to the frightening confrontation.
"His mannerism was more aggressive, I don't know what he's going to do, he already threw the rock, so I'm recording him, and I said I'm going to call the police," said Brown.
Investigators said, "Because of David's racial remarks combined with the assault on Sheron, and his minor child, his intent was to intimidate them due to their race."
"Stand up to bullies"
As painful as that experience was, Brown knows there's a lesson in there for all of us.
"If anything, I'm showing my daughter you stand up to bullies, if someone harasses you and racism has no place in the world," said Brown.
McPartlan has been summoned to Fitchburg District Court.
He's expected to be arraigned June 16.