Dallas / Fort Worth Local News

SULPHUR SPRINGS, Texas (CBS 11 News/ AP) ― A hate crime may have been committed in a small North Texas town.

A 26-year-old Black male is in the hospital in critical condition after reportedly being dragged by a car after an altercation with another man. The incident happened early Wednesday morning outside a Days Inn hotel bar in Sulphur Springs.

Around 12:30 a.m., Christopher Wright, a Black male, waited to take home his girlfriend, a White female and a bartender at the hotel bar. According to Hopkins County District Attorney Martin Braddy, Judson Weaver, 24, a White male, was also at the bar and was told to leave after a verbal confrontation.

"I was told, 'A pretty little white girl like you shouldn't be seen around on this side of Komo Street with a [expletive],'" said Wright's girlfriend, who did not wish to be identified. She says racism was at the center of what happened to her boyfriend.

When she and Wright walked outside, they saw Weaver in his vehicle. That's when Weaver allegedly spit on Wright.

"[Wright] swung back. He got his arm caught in the car and he was drug 40 feet," Wright's girlfriend said. "The guy was accelerating so fast, the only thing that really knocked Chris loose was when they hit the median."

Wright was dragged some 40 feet down State Highway 30. Wright's father Sigmond said the dragging ripped off his son's nose on the right side of his face and caused multiple facial fractures. He also suffered bruised lungs and a fractured spine.

His girl friend said she drove him to a hospital in Sulphur Springs. "He kept telling me it was going to be all right and I kept telling him he would be OK," she said. "I just keep seeing him being dragged and that's all I see." He is now being treated at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler for his injuries.

Investigators are still interviewing witnesses and looking at the motive for the altercation. But the victim's family believes race played a role in the attack.

"I can't belive that in this day and time, these things still happen," said Sigmond. "I don't want to bring up racism, but this right here is uncalled for. My son is injured for life; surgery is not going to fix everything."

"There's some evidence that could potentially lead to the conclusion that race was a motivating factor," Braddy said. "However, we are far from making that determination. It's still in the early stages."

County officials say the incident was not racially motivated. Officials believe it was caused by alcohol. Some of Weaver's friends agree. They think it was a matter of jealousy.

"The only comment is that after everyone takes a deep breath and looks at this, they'll realize there was no crime committed here, and that there certainly was not a hate crime," said Weaver's attorney Frank Long told The Associated Press Wednesday night.

Wright's family said the incident was the culmination of racial taunts Wright and his girlfriend have endured for months. Ashley said they had even been threatened with violence. They said they will continue to fight until they get justice.

Texas authorities can use a hate crime enhancement on penalties. The James Byrd Hate Crime Act raises the punishment for crimes motivated by the victim's race, religion, color, sex, disability, sexual preference, age or national origin. It is named for the East Texas black man who was dragged to his death from a pickup truck by three white men in 1998.

Weaver turned himself in Wednesday night and was arraigned but had not given a statement to investigators. He was released after posting a $50,000 bond, said Long.

(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)