Police: Disabled man pepper-sprayed, robbed while walking dog

ATLANTA — Police say thieves pepper-sprayed a disabled man while he was walking his dog.

Benjamin Hafer told Channel 2's Amy Napier Viteri he was walking his dog near Little 5 Points in Atlanta a few weeks ago in the middle of the afternoon when two men approached him and pepper-sprayed him in the eye. He said he has a mental disability.

"They were apparently waiting for somebody to come along that particular street, because they came from both directions," Hafer said.

Hafer said it was a hot day and he was a little lost when the young men approached him on Colquitt Avenue.

"Bam, up comes this stuff and once this happens, you know, you're just kind of in shock," Hafer said.

According to the police report, one of the suspects called Hafer a rich boy, to which he responded, "No sir, I'm disabled."

"He said, 'Well, check this out,' and he put a pepper spray thing in my face and hit me in this eye," Hafer said.

Hafer said he swung and hit one of the men as they grabbed his keys from his pocket and tried to get his wallet.

The men ran off but did not know where Hafer's truck was parked to steal it.

Hafer said he is glad the men did not hurt his dog, but he is just now starting to feel back to normal.

"It was totally hateful. It was hateful, I think," Hafer said.

Hafer said he had to spend $700 to get his truck towed to have it re-keyed.

WSBTV