‘You’d never expect something like that’: Man brutally mugged in downtown Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The road to recovery will be long for a man who was beaten and robbed in downtown Lincoln.

Friday night, 25-year-old Braxton Adrian was headed to local bar JJ Hooligans to pick up his girlfriend.

But he learned a little later that she had gone to a different spot, so he went back toward his truck on Eighth Street.

Little did he know, four unknown men were waiting for him.

They hit him twice in the back of the head.

“They took my phone, wallet, glasses and one pair of my or one of my shoes,” Adrian said.

He suffered multiple injuries, including a broken nose, black eyes and several scrapes and bruises to his torso and legs.

Adrian does not remember the attack but does remember gaining consciousness outside of the Cornhusker Hotel.

“There was some ladies outside and they’re like, ‘Hey, OK,’ like, ‘You’re safe, you’re safe,” he said. “Then they sat me down on the curb until first responders came.”

While he was passed out, his attackers used his thumb print to change his Apple ID password and send money through apps like Venmo and cash app.

“Between my phone and what I had cash on me and what was cleared out of my bank account, we’re talking like $1,500.”

Adrian is recovering now, but his injuries have made it difficult to do his job.

“I’m a welder,” he said. “So now they kind of just got me operating on a machine because the light has been messing with me at work and feel kind of, make me dizzy and stuff because I’m definitely still concussed.”

He said he gets confused and is not as sharp as he used to be.

“It’s embarrassing, but what can you do?” he said.

Adrian said police have been trying to find some of his stolen items, and he’s been asking businesses in the area to check surveillance cameras.

He said police have told him that the investigation will take some time.

“I’m just hoping for the best and letting them kind of do their work,” he said. “But they did say it’s a lengthy process, but they’re trying to get down to the bottom of it.”

Adrian said this is something he never thought would happen here.

“It’s Lincoln,” he said. “You’d never expect something like that to happen to you, especially if you just walk into your vehicle and it’s late. You know, it’s not Chicago, so I didn’t expect this to happen where I, you know, grew up.”