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Maurice Spellman assaulted
Spellman was attacked early in the disorder, when it was still centered on Kress’ store, putting him in the midst of the crowd. Blacks targeted at least three other white men around this time. William Kitlitz reported being attacked by James Smithies in front of Kress’ store and Timothy Murphy a few blocks west of Spellman’s location by a group of men at around the same time, and Morris Werner by another group, half an hour later at 125th Street and 7th Avenue, the other end of the block on which Kress’ stood. All these men lived west of Harlem, relatively close to where they were attacked, so were likely regular visitors to 125th Street, to shop, seek entertainment, or access public transport, on this evening caught up in the disorder.
The hospital admission record is the only evidence of the assault on Spellman. The attacks on Murphy and Kitlitz were in locations where they attracted police, who made arrests, creating legal records and leading to those men's appearance in newspaper lists of the injured, and in Murphy’s case, newspapers stories. Werner, like Spellman, appears to have been caught up in the crowds, and to have sought medical attention without attracting police attention. Neither man was attended at Harlem Hospital in the heart of the Black neighborhood, but rather at hospitals to the west: Spellman at Sydenham Hospital at 123rd Street and Manhattan Avenue, near his home; and Werner at the Vanderbilt Clinic on West 168th Street.