A 48-year-old Philadelphia man is recovering in the hospital after an attack his family says followed a crash on Roosevelt Boulevard; relatives are also seeking information about the police response. Saintilus Metelus said he was driving home from work near Mascher Street in the Olney neighborhood on Oct. 30 when two men in a white Jeep Cherokee rear-ended his vehicle. After he got out of his car, at least five men attacked him, leaving him with head trauma and cuts across his body, according to NBC10 Philadelphia.
According to NBC10 Philadelphia, Metelus got out of his car after the crash, and that’s when at least five men attacked him. A cellphone video recorded by a witness and obtained by the station shows Metelus being beaten along Roosevelt Boulevard, according to the report.
Metelus immigrated to the United States from Haiti in 2021. His family told NBC10 that the attack left him emotionally unwell and that support from his wife, loved ones, and faith helped him through the aftermath.
Family Alleges Stolen Documents and Attempted Debit Card Use
Relatives also allege that the men took Metelus’s driver’s license, insurance information, and work visa. The family told NBC10 that someone later tried to use his debit card.
The family says it has received little information about the identities of the men allegedly involved or the investigation’s progress.
Family Says Police Waited a Day to File a Report
Relatives say officers responded at the scene but did not file a report until the following day, when Metelus was still hospitalized.
In its report, NBC10 said Philadelphia police had not answered its questions about incident documentation or whether criminal charges could be filed by the time of the broadcast.
Relative Says Immigrants May Be Targeted
Geraldine Lebrun, a relative of Metelus, told NBC10 the family is seeking justice and believes immigrants may be targeted because they lack support. The family said it does not know who the attackers were.
What city data and police policies show
The City of Philadelphia says its 2023 Vision Zero Annual Report found 21% fewer fatal and serious injury crashes and 50% fewer crashes involving people walking on Roosevelt Boulevard. Those figures concern traffic crashes and do not establish anything about the alleged assault.
A Philadelphia Citizens Police Oversight Commission explainer says officers are not required to obtain a person’s citizenship status to complete an incident report, and that police and the 911 system offer free language-assistance services to anyone who needs them. The explainer does not say what happened in Metelus’s case or whether his family used those services. Both policies are described by the Philadelphia Citizens Police Oversight Commission; the city’s traffic figures are in its Vision Zero report summary.
For now, Metelus remains focused on recovering from his injuries while his family continues to press for information about the men they say attacked him and about the status of any investigation.
