Man stabbed, beaten in West Valley park

WEST VALLEY CITY — A 25-year-old man was beaten with baseball bats and golf clubs before being stabbed Wednesday night in what police believe may be a gang-related attack.

The man was at a family gathering in Hunter Park, near 3600 South and 6000 West, when he and his brother were approached by two men who called them by name and challenged them to a fight, West Valley Police Lt. Bill Merritt said.

Merritt said the two brothers agreed to fight and the man was quickly surrounded by a group of men with baseball bats and golf clubs who began to beat him. He also was stabbed several times before being taken to the hospital in "serious, but not life-threatening" condition, Merritt said.

Both the man and his brother denied being involved with gangs and were uncooperative with police investigators, which Merritt said is not unusual in gang-related incidents.

"It's not uncommon for them to withhold information so that they can retaliate on their own," he said.

The best description police currently have of the assailants is that they were a group of juveniles wearing red — a fact that confirms police suspicions that they are gang members.

"It's not everyday you see someone wearing red from head-to-toe," Merritt said.

Police did not believe the man's brother was seriously injured in the attack.

— Emiley Morgan