NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A Newport News family is left shaken after they say someone attacked a 13-year-old boy while he went swimming with his friends.
The incident happened on Tuesday at around noon. Tristin Uzzle said he and his friends made a comment regarding a man's smoking that made the man irate. Tristin said the man entered the swimming pool and jumped in, where he tried to grab Tristin.
"I got out of the floatie as fast as I could, out of the water, but then he grabbed me by the shoulder and pushed me into the gate, grab my neck and choke me and said, 'You don't know what I'm going through,'" Tristin said.
Tristin said his little brother and friend ran away to go get help, as Tristin tried to fend the man off. Tristin's grandmother lived only feet away and she said she came running.
"I want to know who this grown man is and why he felt like he had the right to put his hands on my grandson," said Pamela Lewis, the victim's grandmother.
Lewis said by the time she arrived, the lifeguard on duty had already called 911, but the man had taken off.
A spokeswoman with the Newport News Police Department said an active investigation is underway, and if the person is caught, they could face an assault charge.
Tristin and Lewis said they just want the man to be found, or to turn himself in.
"A pool is supposed to be a safe place, kids are supposed to feel safe," said Lewis. "I don't want this to happen to another kid. He needs to turn himself in."
Tristin suffered no major injuries from the incident and walked away with scrapes and bruises.