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WHEELING — Two Wheeling men face felony charges after allegedly pummeling a man with bricks and rocks, which the victim said began when the two men started hurling racial slurs at him.

At 11:37 p.m. on August 20, Wheeling police responded to a call at the Marathon gas station on National Road near Washington Avenue. There, police spoke with a man who had sustained numerous head injuries who said he was attacked by two men on the other side of the nearby bridge. The men were identified as Encil Knudson, 31, and Kyle Wilson, 27.

The alleged victim said he was walking along Washington Avenue when the two men began calling him names and “making racial insults” about him, according to police records.

The man approached, leading to a fight in which the man ended up on his back.

The man said Knudson and Wilson picked up bricks off the ground and began beating him with them, while Wilson held him down.

He added that Knudson claimed to have a knife and threatened his life if he yelled for help. The two were said to have fled afterward, but were found a few hundred yards away at the Marathon.

The man was taken to Wheeling Hospital for his injuries, which police said appeared to have gotten worse over time. Under the nearby bridge, police say they found a pair of slippers, which belonged to the beaten man, a WVU hat thought to belong to Wilson, several large cement rocks, part of a ripped T-shirt, and a 30-pack of beer.

Police said both Wilson and Knudson refused to discuss the matter with police, though they overheard the two discuss “sticking to their story” between the two of them. Knudson was allegedly heard “insinuating that (the man) was acting like a racial remark,” according to police records. Both men were reportedly covered in dirt and small abrasions.

Both men were arrested and charged with malicious assault. Both posted bond from the Northern Regional Jail.

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