Senseless, Disturbing And Possibly Deadly – Knockout ‘Games’

You’re walking along minding your own business, when a group of youths is approaching you.

The next thing you know, you’re on the ground, waking up, because you were the victim of what has been called knockout games. You were sucker punched. This has been going on for quite some time, and now it’s been reported that these 'games' are becoming increasingly common.

When I saw the story on CBS 6 Albany, all of a sudden I felt a sense of sadness, helplessness and being frightened. Assemblyman James Tedisco was in the report because he’s proposing harsher penalties for the ‘punks’ that are committing these dangerous and scary acts. He’s been working with Senator Hugh Farley on the Knockout Assault Deterrent Act. If the ‘punks’ are caught, they’ll be facing possible jail time of 25 years, no matter what their ages are - No youthful offender status. This will include all everyone in the group involved, not just the individual that did the punching.

There were reports where two people died from the attacks. That defendant was convicted and has a jail sentence of life. An attack also happened to a 78-year-old woman while she was carrying some shopping bags. She was knocked down but nothing was taken.

So far, there are no reports that I know of, where this has happened in the Albany-area, and let’s hope that it never does. This may be something to think about if you’re heading out to do some holiday shopping.

Just so you have a little more knowledge about this, here's a video that I found on You Tube about the knockout 'games'. Please keep in mind that this may be a little scary for some people, especially younger children.