Ville Platte man assaulted in front yard
VILLE PLATTE, La. (KLFY) Ivory Fontenot, 90 of Ville Platte is seeking justice after being attacked in his front yard.
"I just don't see why they wanted to do that to me."
Family members and neighbors said Fontenot spends a lot of time sitting in his front yard, socializing with neighbors and enjoying the weather.
This past Sunday afternoon was no different, until a masked man came around the corner of the house.
"I was sitting down right here, and the guy came around the corner right by the house. Before he got to me, he said give me your money, and he had a knife," Fontenot said.
Fontenot said he tried to scream for help when the man punched him above his right eye.
A neighbor heard the screams and called the police, but the suspect ran away.
When police arrived, Fontenot was transported to the hospital for his injury.
Fontenot's family said he's been attacked in the neighborhood before, saying people come from the wooded area behind his house. Still, Fontenot refuses to leave his home of over 40 years.
Ronney Thomas, Ivory's nephew, said, "He refuses to live the rest of his remaining days in fear."
Chief of police Perry Thomas said police are looking for help from the community to identify the person responsible.
"We're utilizing all that we have available to us in terms of doing more patrol, as well as trying to get the community more involved," Thomas said. "I just hope that they can trust me enough to reveal the things that they see and the things that they hear."
Fontenot's nephew, Ronney Thomas, also asks for the community's help protecting his uncle.
"The older generation has a right to live in peace and in harmony," Thomas said. "This man is 90 years old. If the community would work with law enforcement, these crimes wouldn't happen in this community. He's been living in this house for forty something years. So, we're only asking the community, as a community effort to keep an eye on him because he isn't going anywhere."
A suspect has not been identified in the assault; the investigation is ongoing.