Two charged after beating teen with prosthetic leg

A southeast Missouri teenager is recovering after being attacked with his own prosthetic leg.

Michael Williams of Cape Girardeau was attacked around 1 a.m. Sunday in an apartment complex parking lot. Police say two other teens in a car pulled alongside Williams, an 18-year-old who is missing half his right arm and wears a prosthetic leg due to a birth defect.

One of the teens grabbed Williams' prosthetic leg and hit him with it.

Because the attack was apparently motivated by Williams' disability, police characterize it as a hate crime.

Seventeen-year-old Alexander Harris faces felony assault charges. The other teen, a 16-year-old boy, faces juvenile charges.

Williams had lip, jaw and neck injuries but no broken bones.