Attack at Wal-Mart leaves Watauga man with brain injury

A 55-year-old Watauga man with a brain injury remained in the intensive care unit of a Fort Worth hospital Thursday, nearly two weeks after he was attacked outside an east Fort Worth Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Marty Britton was found in front of the store’s garden center shortly before 7 p.m. on June 12, his wife, Rhonda Britton, was told by police. He had a head wound and a scrape on his elbow, but refused treatment by paramedics called to the scene.

Britton drove home and told his wife he was “jumped” in the parking lot, she said.

“They hit him and knocked him to the ground,” she said. “His head hit the pavement.”

Officers reviewed store surveillance video, which caught images of Britton being hit in the store’s parking lot off Interstate 30 at Eastchase Parkway.

Rhonda Britton, who is a paramedic, said she recognized signs of head injury so she drove her husband to a free-standing emergency room near their house. A CT scan found bleeding in his brain.

He was transferred to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth where, on June 14, part of his brain had to be surgically removed as his head swelled with blood, she said.

“It may be months, it may be years,” Rhonda Britton said. “His brain has to heal.”

The surveillance video showed Marty Britton park his pickup and walk toward the store, police wrote in a news release. A black car that looks similar to a smart car, drove up next to him and stopped.

The driver can be seen getting out of the car and then he “possibly struck the victim with his fists,” according to police. It is not clear whether a passenger attacked Britton, but he can be seen getting back into the car, which drove south through the parking lot, police said.

Police could not provide a helpful description of the assailants.

This story was originally published June 24, 2015 at 9:30 PM with the headline "Attack at Wal-Mart leaves Watauga man with brain injury."