Two boys arrested in skateboard attack

Police are recommending felony assault charges be filed against two 12-year-old boys for an attack on a 13-year-old at the Hillyard Skate Park. Spokane Police major crimes detectives have arrested the two boys in connection with an Aug. 20 incident. The victim’s mother, Connie Kysar, on Monday told The Spokesman-Review that her 13-year-old son, Riley Kysar, was confronted by about a dozen other teens at the skate park on Aug. 20. They demanded her son’s helmet, but assaulted him even after he gave it them, she said. One attacker hit Riley Kysar in the face with a skateboard. He was left with a broken arm, broken nose and fractured jaw, she said. A police news release said the boy also suffered a concussion. Detectives have submitted a request to charge two 12-year-old boys, who were not identified in the news release, with second-degree assault. Connie Kysar asked the Spokane City Council at Monday’s meeting to make the skate park safer. Police need to regularly patrol the park and the park department should install lights, she said. “What is it going to take?” she said after she testified to the council. Ian Moody, a medical marijuana activist who recently lost a bid for Congress, has also joined the cause and organized a protest at the skate park earlier this week to highlight drug dealing and bullying happening at the park. Moody, who also spoke at the City Council meeting, said city officials had been giving Kysar the run-around. “It’s no longer a safe place for the average kid who wants to practice his skating or other alternative sports skills,” Moody said.