Dayton: Man sought in Oakwood beating

9:14am Tuesday, September 23, 2003

44-year-old in hospital after assault

OAKWOOD | Police want to talk to a man who may have been at the scene Thursday when a Dayton man was severely beaten with a baseball bat.

Matthew Crawford, 44, collapsed in the driveway of 219 Shafor Blvd., a house owned by the Zax family, after exiting the house. Police would like to talk to Steve Zax Jr., who they say may have been present during the attack.

Officers were dispatched to the residence about 4:40 p.m. on a medic run after someone playing tennis next door heard a commotion and saw the injured man. That person called 911.

Capt. Walt Conroy said Crawford’s head injuries could be life-threatening. Police said he has not been able to tell them who’s responsible. In the ambulance, Crawford told medics that he’d been beaten, but the information was sketchy.

Conroy said Zax may split his time between the Shafor Road home and his mother’s farm in Spring Valley. Detectives have not learned where he works, or if he does. His father once owned a chain of health clubs, which he sold in the early ’90s. The younger Zax used to work in the family business.

Aggravated assaults are rare in Oakwood. Conroy said the last one was in 1998, and was part of a robbery.

Oakwood police ask anyone with information to call 298-2122.

Zax was last seen driving a 1994 gray Lincoln, license plate CA75EL.

Commentary:
Criminals do not need firearms to victimize and kill.

Was this one of the 96 assaults that could have been prevented this month by HB12?

Click here to read the story in the Dayton Daily News.