Three juveniles arrested in bicycle-gang beatings in Center City, Fairmount
Police have arrested three children for allegedly taking to their bicycles and swarming victims during at least two gang-style attacks in the Center City and Fairmount areas.
Police have arrested three children for allegedly taking to their bicycles and swarming victims during at least two gang-style attacks in the Center City and Fairmount areas.
Police said the first incident occurred shortly after 8:30 p.m. Thursday, when a 31-year-old man and his wife, also 31, were stopped at a red light at 18th and Lombard streets.
A group of juvenile males on bicycles stopped in front of the couple's vehicle. At some point, one of the children allegedly opened the passenger-side door as a second tried to pull the woman out of the car.
Police said the man reversed his vehicle, but that as he attempted to drive away, the group of kids began throwing rocks at the car, causing him to strike a number of parked, unattended vehicles.
No injuries were reported. The group drove off, with one of the males leaving his bicycle behind, police said.
About an hour later, a 24-year-old man was walking home on the 1900 block of Fairmount Avenue when he saw the same group of children on bicycles, investigators said.
Police said the group had just struck the side mirrors of several parked, unattended vehicles and was being chased by another man.
The 24-year-old confronted the children, and one of them splashed him with a bottle of water, according to investigators.
At the same time, one of the suspects maneuvered behind the victim and punched him in the right side of his jaw, knocking him unconscious, police said.
The man was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital for the treatment of a fractured jaw and a laceration above his left eyebrow.
Uniformed patrol officers stopped three males, two of them aged 12 and one aged 16, on the 600 block of North Broad Street, near Green Street. All three suspects were arrested after being positively identified as the offenders in both attacks, police said.
They are charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, criminal conspiracy and related offenses. The suspects' identities are not being released due to their ages.