Man assaulted at beer festival on life support

BY STEVE E. SWENSON, Californian staff writer
e-mail: sswenson@bakersfield.com | Tuesday, Apr 29 2008 8:55 AM

Last Updated: Tuesday, Apr 29 2008 1:34 PM

Kevin Johnson, who was assaulted at a beer festival, is in critical condition on life support, his sister reported Tuesday.

Bakersfield police confirmed that the initial report that an argument preceded the assault was incorrect.

Witnesses said the suspect, Matthew Reed, 33, came up from behind Johnson, struck him in the neck and ran away, Sgt. Greg Terry said.

Johnson, the father of four children, is at San Joaquin Hospital. He is in critical condition, nurses said.

Brown said the family would be making arrangements to donate his heart if he should die.

“He has a good heart,” she said.

Police arrested Reed on suspicion of felony battery in the Saturday incident at the Festival of Beers in Stramler Park. Reed has since posted $25,000 bail and has been released from jail.

If Johnson dies, the charges against Reed could be increased, police said.

The two men had a longstanding feud over a guitar, Brown said.

But Johnson wouldn’t fight Reed because Reed has a bad heart and Johnson didn’t want to cause any serious problems, Brown said.

Johnson, who was born in Los Angeles and attended South High School after coming to Bakersfield in 1989, “was very fun loving and talkative,” his sister said.

“You automatically liked him,” she said.

“He loved to go to car shows and he loved tattoos,” Brown said. “He was full of tattoos.”

Brown said her son loved his uncle and is devastated by his injury.

She quoted her son as saying, “I want him to wake up and come over and fix my car.”

Johnson is the father of two boys and two girls, ranging from a baby to grade-school age, she said.

The three older children are staying with an aunt, and the baby is staying with her mother, Brown said.

He was not employed at the time of the incident, Brown said.

it is unfathomable to me how one could have 4 kids, be unemployed, and yet be able to fork out 40 bucks to go drink beer, while your 4 responsibilities are somewhere else

believe me, i feel bad for the family, especially the kids, but come on...a little personal responsibility,something this community has seemed to lack in the last few years, would have went a long way, and maybe even stopped this attack