Student on College Orientation Visit to Baltimore Gets Knockout Punch

A Texas man in Baltimore for his college orientation was reportedly the target over the weekend of the "knockout game," a phenomenon in which a group of individuals tries to take someone down with one punch, sometimes on video.

"Evidently, this is normal," Sean Delamar told Fox 45, referencing the group of youths on bikes who punched him in the head outside the Baltimore Harbor Hotel, where he was staying. He told the TV station that the valet staff seemed unfazed by what happened and didn't acknowledge it until he mentioned the punch.

This was not the first instance of violence like this in the area.

A group of youths on bikes in April threw a bottle at a bicyclist on Guilford Avenue in the Greenmount area, then tried to punch him out, according to City Paper.

In January, six teens were taken into custody in connection with injuring a Lansdowne woman who was knocked out on the light rail on her way to the Patapsco Light Rail Station, WBAL reported.

Over the winter, ABC 2 News also reported on cases of the knockout game in the area, including one on Lombard Street in December 2012 that caused a traumatic brain injury to a man who was not able to work as a result.

Two individuals were charged in that case, ABC 2 reported. Terance Green, 20, of the 2200 block of Cedley Street in Baltimore, was sentenced to 12 years in jail for first-degree assault. Dominic Wardrick, 20, of the 1100 block of Pratt Street in Baltimore, was sentenced to 10 years for first-degree assault.

Despite the violence he experienced on Friday night at the Baltimore Harbor Hotel, Delmar said he was still looking forward to his college experience. "It should be an adventure," Delamar told Fox 45.