Akron man brutally beaten, stripped naked at Circle K by group of men

AKRON, Ohio (WOIO) - Akron police are searching for a group of men who brutally beat a man inside a gas station in the middle of the day. The horrifying attack was caught on camera.

32-year-old Thomas Higgins never imagined he would become the victim of a crime like this. He spoke exclusively about the traumatizing attack with 19 News on Tuesday.

“I never been jumped a day in my life,” Higgins said. “This is the first time something like this ever happened to me.”

We do not know who originally took the video, but it was livestreamed on Facebook.

The vicious attack happened last Friday at 6 p.m. inside Circle K on Copley Road and Orlando Avenue in Akron.

“They were just kicking me, punching me, dragging me, and then towards the end, it was like, drag him outside, drag him outside,” Higgins recalled. “So, they got to dragging me and then this after they stripped me naked, they stripped me naked and they was about to drag me outside and then one of them there was, like, the police might be coming. They just all ran out the store.”

But whether he was prepared for the attack or not he made a decision not to stay quiet.

“So yes, I am telling on them, and I want them in jail,” the Akron man said. “I want them to know that I’m telling on them. They need to be in jail because, like, this is not, this shouldn’t be happening to nobody.”

Higgins says he only knew two of the at least six men who brutally beat him and stripped him naked inside the Circle K. He gave the police their names and although no one has been arrested yet detectives said they are taking this case very seriously and working to track down his attackers.

“I just hope they don’t kill me, and I was wondering why, like, the lady ain’t call the police like I was wondering if anybody gonna help me for real,” he said.

The Akron man walked away from the crime with broken ribs and black eyes. He said he only knew 2 of the men and had not seen them in years when they ambushed him at the gas station.

“They just came up there hyped up and just ready to fight,” said Higgins. “The police needs to get them off the street before they end up killing somebody.”

Akron police said they are getting more videos of the brutal beating from the gas station that they hope will help them identify all the men involved.