A teenager from Alabama, USA was brutally attacked and left unconscious with a broken nose at a country music festival last weekend.
Reid Watts, 18, attended the “Rock the South” music festival with a group of his friends on Saturday night, July 22 when a fellow concertgoer accused him of spilling a drink on them, which eventually led to the teen getting beaten up by a group of “30-40 year-old” men.
Watts said he tried to tell his accuser as he didn’t have a drink on him and the two reportedly shook hands, but moments later while some of his friends left for the restroom, he was attacked from behind.
“Some dude said I was spilling beer on him or something along those things, and then I talked to him because I didn’t have a drink on me at the time, like I didn’t have anything, I talked to him and shook his hand because I thought everything was okay because I explained to him it wasn’t me,” Watts recalled to WBMA.
“Then a few minutes later, I was walking back and got hit in the back of the head, then I hit the ground and tried to cover my face then I got knocked out and that was really all I remember,” Watts added.
His girlfriend, Katie Hudgins, said she was traumatized after watching the group of men beat up her boyfriend in front of her, and even rob the defenseless teen.
“It was horrible, I’m traumatized, I felt so helpless, because I couldn’t get in there and get to him and I had to sit there and watch him get beat up while he’s unconscious, it’s horrible,” Hudgins said.
The beating didn’t end until festival security got to the teen and rushed him out, Watt’s mother said as she asked for help finding her son’s attackers.
“Please help me find the cowards who did this to my son tonight at Rock the South. There were several grown men (30s-40s) who jumped on him and beat him unconscious while his girlfriend stood there screaming and crying for help,” Kaci Howard said in a Facebook post. “They continued beating him while he was on the ground until security finally got to them and got Reid and Katie out of there and to an ambulance.”
Watts was rushed to a local hospital where Howard shared a photo of her beaten-up son with swollen eyes, a reddened face and wearing a neck brace while being examined.
“He has a fractured nose, concussion, stitches, knots the size of softballs on the back of his head. He never even saw it coming,” Howard added.
“The part that we are the most concerned with is that portion where Mr. Reid is on the ground and it’s obvious that he is unconscious, you can that his legs are not moving and he continues to be punched in the face,” Chief David Nassetta of the Cullman Police Department told the WBMA.
Festival organizers offered a $10,000 reward and lifetime tickets for information that would lead to the arrest of Watts’ attackers.
Watch the video below.
Organizers of Rock the South are offering a $10,000 reward plus lifetime tickets to Rock the South for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the physical assault of Reid Watts on Saturday, July 22.
— Mike Dubberly GDA (@MikeDubberlyGDA) July 24, 2023
Reid Watts, the 18-year-old victim from the assault at Rock the South spoke with me Sunday over zoom. He has a fractured nose, concussion and a lot of bruising. @abc3340 pic.twitter.com/KKIbwh5hXc
— Megan Scarano ABC 33/40 (@MScaranoNews) July 24, 2023
