After a Confrontation, Man Dies Outside Cedar Springs Bar

By Sky Chadde Fri., Oct. 3 2014 at 11:47 AM

A man possibly got into an argument here and then was punched, police say.

A man died last weekend after a confrontation outside a bar on Cedar Springs Road. Detective Derick Chaney said video from JR's Bar & Grill shows that Joseph Chase was punched on the sidewalk then fell to the ground, unconscious. Chaney said he lay there until police arrived. He was pronounced dead at a hospital later.

Chaney said he's been unable so far to ascertain where Chase was before he was punched. Chaney believes Chase and the person who punched him were possibly drunk and got into an argument, but their encounter was "not a fight." The person landed one punch and then Chase fell, Chaney said video showed.

Chaney is hoping people were walking by and witnessed the confrontation. They possibly didn't stop to help because they didn't think it was serious.

The Dallas Voice reported that Chase is a gay man, but Chaney said there is no evidence of him being targeted for his sexuality. "I do not have any evidence it's a hate crime," Chaney said.

As of Thursday afternoon, most people we spoke to on Cedar Springs hadn't heard of Chase's death. Andre Cruz, who works at a clothing store there, heard about it because police asked if he knew anything.

People might think Chase was a target because he was killed in Cedar Springs but he could just as easily been jumped in Greenville, Cruz said. He said he's always felt safe in the neighborhood, able to walk down the block to his apartment after closing the store at midnight. This is just a reminder to remember the basics of safety, Cruz said.

Kristopher Johnson, working the counter of another clothing store, said he hadn't heard about Chase's death. He said he feels safe in the neighborhood and the seemingly random nature of the crime doesn't change that. Besides, he added, a hate crime in 2014 would be "ludicrous."

Send your story tips to the author, Sky Chadde.

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skeechi

Trust me, gays fight, ugly and often
. Jack looks ready to throw a punch right now

JackJett

I really wish the publication would STOP posting anything to do with gay and lesbian issues. There are only about 3 commenters that post here that are supportive of the gay community. Joe Tone and a band of hate filled homophobes will never have a kind or compassionate comment about anyone or anything to do with the gay and lesbian community. My thought is that these articles are placed here to feed the haters and certainly NOT to inform.

Then you have the people who are not even from here but go out of their way to make some teenage fucked up childish joke.

A man lost his life. Is it possible to put your hate aside for maybe a moment and if you can't be supportive the simple don't make a comment.

TheRuddSki topcommenter

If a gay man screams "I hate you!" At another gay man before striking, is it a hate crime?

wcvemail

Sky, if this were an academic paper and I were your prof, I'd give you an 'A' for being honest enough to research and report that your apparent original aim -- to make this a hate crime -- was a failure.

Myrna.Minkoff-Katz topcommenter

"A hate crime in 2014 would be ludicrous"... ??? Uh... what alternate universe does that nimrod dwell in?

TheRuddSki topcommenter

@skeechi

Jack's not fighting, he's pissing and moaning and demanding special treatment of his community

Montemalone topcommenter

@JackJett We're always gonna be "those people" or "the gays" and we're always gonna deserve whatever happens to us.

We may be able to get married (in 30 states and counting) and some places have passed laws making it illegal to discriminate in jobs and housing, but even those laws don't guarantee you won't get fired or lose a rental because it's up to you to sue and prove it.

I can't abide the thought of sticking my face in some fish's snatch and munching away, but I don't go around whompin' on hets because they do.

Why do the breeders spend so much time thinking about us packing fudge and smokin' poles? Do they sit there while the commercials are on during the footbasebasketball games and imagine me sliding my tongue down Brad Pitt's chest? Do they get a little jiggle in the jeans and freak out?

I still believe after all these years that homophobia and gaybashing are just freaked out reactions to repressed homosexual tendencies.

That's not to say I'm eager for Bubba and his butt crack to hit on me at the grocery store, but I'm sure Cletus down at the shooting range would be happy to unzip and let him go to it.

ThePosterFormerlyKnownasPaul topcommenter

@JackJett

Wow!, take a chill pill dude.

How do you come to your conclusions from what is reported in the article?

TheRuddSki topcommenter

@JackJett

Stop reading the damn blog, dude.

Guesty

@Myrna.Minkoff-Katz Apparently in the actual neighborhood. So while it is ludicrous to assume that no hate crimes are committed anywhere, I think the general view he was expressing, that hate crimes are now so very rare in the neighborhood that it was likely something else, is is very reasonable.

bobby

@Myrna.Minkoff-Katz Agree, although this happened in an area known as the Gayborhood (I live there), so it would be a little strange for there to be serious anti-gay sentiment there given the culture/predominance of gay folk.

JackJett

@Montemalone The doth protest far too much. It is impossible to find a gay man who fixates on het sex as much as any number of these bashers are soley & glory hole-y focused firmly on man on man sex action. Men that are comfortable have no qualm with gay men as it is less competition for them. If they weren't so obsessed with bashing they would, they would already have gay pals and know what awesome wingmen they make in addition to good bud.

TheRuddSki topcommenter

@TPFKAP

Too many many chill pills?

JackJett

@TheRuddSki You don't own the fucking blog ....CHICK...even though you seem to think so. There is no need for you to post 200 comments per hour that are as meaningless as your hatefilled life.

Is it possible for you to go 5 minutes without being disgusting or must you sit here and shit all day.

YOU threaten people with lawsuits and bring Obama bashing into every subject. If this blog had a legit moderator you would have been gone months ago.

Seriously, a man looses his life and because he was gay, YOU must make a joke out of it to somehow prove WHAT?

I am not going to read your shit all evening so don't bother responding......just keep masturbating your mouth and entertain yourself.

brian

@bobby @Myrna.Minkoff-Katz crimes motivated by hatred of LGBT persons have occurred in Oak Lawn although the most recent one wasn't a physical attack, merely mental by defacing monuments and places of worship. here are a couple others for those with short memory:

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/crime/2014/08/09/13579264/

http://www.dallasvoice.com/victim-says-oak-lawn-attack-was-hate-crime-1024660.html

mlpjlk

JJ, I have no clue what hate-filled, smalled-minded vajayjay you fell out of but it is a shame your mother didn't flush you when she had a chance...the world would have been a much better place.