PROSECUTOR: COWBOYS 2000 ATTACK PROBE 'A MESS'

Four men are already charged with assault in the beating of Joshua Mincks. More could be busted, the Greene County prosecutor says, but there are problems with the investigation.

Thursday's News-Leader reports:

At least three witnesses told police they saw Mincks' attackers jump up and down on a car while he was pinned under it. But Moore said detectives now doubt the accounts.

"The police are frustrated. I'm frustrated," Moore said. "I've made it clear I would like to know the person or persons who inflicted the serious injury on this young man and hold them accountable, but it's a mess."

In the immediate aftermath of the beating, there was much speculation that race had something to do with it. Mincks is white; the four men charged with assault are black.

Deep in the News-Leader story -- five grafs from the bottom -- the victim's grandmother, Sue Mincks, makes some startling disclosures:

She said she learned from police that an argument over a woman may have preceded the attack, a detail not confirmed by police or prosecutors.

Police are still investigating the assault and haven't ruled out the possibility that it may have been racially motivated. Mincks is white; his attackers were black.

Her grandson, Sue Mincks said, is not a racist — but she did confirm that one of his many tattoos is a swastika: "That has nothing to do with what happened here," she said. "And does that entail you get a beating?"

No, but it's certainly asking for one.