Arron Keahey after the Labor Day attack.
A Springtown man is still recovering from a hate crime after he met a man on a smartphone app on Labor Day.
Arron Keahey, 24, went to meet 18-year-old Brice Johnson after the two met on the app MeetMe. Springtown is about 70 miles west of Dallas in Parker County.
But when he arrived, Keahey was ambushed and beaten, resulting in broken facial bones, nerve damage and knocked out teeth. The attack nearly killed him. He needed plastic surgery to reconstruct his face.
Keahey, who’s gay, said he went to Johnson’s house because he thought he was gay or bisexual.
“He started getting all frustrated and talking all angrily,” Keahey told WFAA. “I don’t remember anything after that.”
Johnson later called 911, telling police he found Keahey in the trunk of a car and he drove him to a hospital.
Police later arrested Johnson and charged him with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony.
Police are treating the incident as a possible hate crime, the first one for the small town.
“I’ve been up here altogether 10 years, and this is the first hate crime or possible hate crime that I’ve investigated,” Springtown police Lt. Curtis Stone said.
Keahey said he has learned a painful lesson about meeting people on apps.
“Just don’t meet anybody online,” he said. “Don’t trust them.”
Watch WFAA’s report below.
