Cops seek group in Schuylkill bike robbery

Police are asking for help finding the group of male teenagers who attacked another teen on his bicycle near the Schuylkill River Trail.

Police recently obtained video of the suspects, described as a group of eight teens.

The incident happened on Nov. 1, when the group approached a 17-year-old boy who was at Martin Luther King Dr. and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, near the Philadelphia Museum of Art, at about 2:45 p.m. and took his bicycle.

The 17-year-old followed them on another bike, police said.

The group then assaulted him and tried to take the other bicycle and the teen's phone before fleeing.

Police on Wednesday released surveillance video that investigators discovered of the assailants in Center City.

Reports of assaults and harassment, mostly targeting female runners, on the Schuylkill River Trail caused widespread alarm this fall. The suspects in the incidents were often described as male teenagers on bicycles.

A police spokeswoman said Wednesday that the group depicted in the newly released video wasn't being sought for any other specific incidents.

That could change as the investigation progressed, she said.

The teens in the Nov. 1 robbery were described as bout 15 or 16 years old, wearing windbreakers and hooded sweatshirts and riding bicycles.

Anyone with information can call police at 215-686-8477 (TIPS) or send a text message to 773847.