3 years ago
"I can't believe someone would mug a guy with one arm, one leg and a woman."
That guy and that woman are Mark Beyers and his wife Denise - a couple who has already been through a lot.
Lance Corporal Byers lost his leg and his arm after he was hit by a roadside bomb last August ? just weeks before he was scheduled to leave Iraq. The 27 year old was given last rights. Who knew that he would survive the battlefield, but would encounter danger in the District - just a few miles away from Walter Reed where he's been recovering?
"I'm still angry about it. I can't believe somebody would target us."
Two weeks ago, Beyers and his wife were headed back to their vehicle after enjoying a few drinks at Chadwicks on Wisconsin Avenue. That's when they say they were approached by five men who initially asked for cigarettes - then made it clear they wanted more.
"Next thing you know one of the guys came up to me and was like, ?Give me your purse. Give me your purse.?"
After pushing Denise Byers to the ground, the thieves turned to Mark - a man who's endured over 20 surgeries and now has a prosthetic leg and arm.
"I just kind of pushed one in the chest. He just fell back. I don't think they were expecting a man with one arm to fight them. But as soon as they got the money they were gone"
"He went out and fought for us and he comes back to this?"
Shoppers and restaurant-goers echoed the anger that now has this Iraq war veteran and his wife ready to leave Washington for good.
"We've already been through enough stuff. We just want to go home and get on with our lives."
Byers wasn't hurt, but his wife is still nursing bruises, scabs and a cut lip from getting knocked to the ground and kicked.
Their attackers have yet to be caught.
Beyers is expected to be discharged from the hospital next week. He'll be heading back home to Buffalo where he plans to work with his father and brother in the family construction business.
Written by 9NEWS NOW
