Family makes plea for tips after teenager mugged, beaten in East Village

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — An El Cajon mother is searching for clues after her teenage son was brutally beaten and mugged in the East Village.

Two Tuesdays ago, Sarah Swift-Farrow got the call every mother dreads. Her 19-year-old son, Titan Mellor, was in the ER and hurt badly.

"My heart dropped ... just a hopeless feeling," said Swift-Farrow.

She believes around 2 p.m., her son, a Grossmont College student, was headed to the Family Health Centers clinic in the East Village, applying for some sort of state assistance, when it happened. Swift-Farrow learned details from the paramedics' report.

"He was attacked from behind by a group of people, hit in the back of the head with a glass bottle. He fell to the ground, was repeatedly punched, and lost consciousness. Then he was kicked in the face for an unknown duration of time," said Swift-Farrow.

Swift-Farrow says the attackers took his keys, phone, and wallet, charging thousands of dollars in purchases on his credit cards during the next few days. As for Mellor, he suffered a concussion and a host of severe injuries.

"Multiple fractures in his eye socket, his nose, above the mouth, behind his ear and in the back of his head," said Swift-Farrow.

She says his road to recovery won't be an easy one. His memory of the attack remains hazy.

"He remembers a group of six to eight males yelling at him, and then getting hit from behind," said Swift-Farrow.

Swift-Farrow is making a plea for tips to help police fill in the missing details.

"They need to be caught because my son deserves justice, and I don’t want this to happen to anyone else," said Swift-Farrow.

She says the first charge on the stolen credit card was at the nearby MTS stop. Anyone with information is asked to call San Diego Police at 619-531-2000.

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help the family with expenses.