Dallas Schmidt, a reining and working cowhorse trainer from Cooperstown, North Dakota, was mugged outside of his room at the Baymont Hotel located at the
Dublin/Granville Road exit in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday evening. Schmidt was in Columbus attending the Congress. Schmidt, his wife
DaLayne, and their young daughter Bailey had just returned to their room, and
Dallas went back to his truck to get a baby bottle.
According to accounts by wife DaLayne, Dallas had parked by some trees and while he was
standing on the running boards looking for the bottle, two men came out of the
trees and approached him. They told him they wanted his money.
Dallas had just emptied his pockets in the room and had nothing for
them.
Armed with nothing more than his rock grinders, Schmidt started kicking
his attackers and was able to scare them off. Police later found one of
the alleged attackers who was severely injured and is now in intensive
care. The spur went under his chin, through his tongue and in to his
palate. Because the spur was dirty, he is now fighting an infection.
Schmidt claims that the Baymont Hotel management told him that this
wasn’t the first time hotel guests had been harassed. “If this has
happened before, where is security or the police?” Schmidt questioned the
day after the event.
Fortunately, the Schmidt family escaped unharmed. However, this is a tough reminder to
always be aware when traveling, no matter where you are.
UPDATE: According to Sargent Weiner with the Columbus
Police Department, official police reports indicate that Mr. Schmidt was
approached by two men outside his hotel room who asked him for money.
Feeling he was in a potentially vulnerable situation, Schmidt did report
kicking one of the men with his spur. However, neither of the two men
have been taken into custody and nobody was reported to have been
admitted to the hospital as a result of the incident. Our apologies to all
involved for any inaccuracies with earlier reports.
