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Nov 18, 2009 8:20 pm US/Central
5 Arrested In Connection With YouTube Assaults
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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Mohamed Abdi, 19, has been arrested for his suspected role in the range of assaults that were videotaped and briefly posted on YouTube.
CBS
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Police are investigating a viral video that was on YouTube of a group of teens taping themselves during assaults and muggings.
CBS
St. Paul police have arrested two people in connection with a range of
assaults that were videotaped and briefly posted on YouTube. The
Minneapolis Police Department said they have arrested three more
juveniles they believe could be connected. St. Paul police hopes to arrest two more suspects from the video soon.
Three victims came forward Wednesday, including two from the video.
Sgt. Paul Schnell said Wednesday that one 19-year-old man from Oakdale and one 17-year-old boy from St. Paul were taken into custody late Tuesday. The 19-year-old has been identified as Mohamed Abdi. They haven't been charged, and police were pursuing additional suspects.
Sgt. Jesse Garcia, of the Minneapolis Police Department, said the juveniles they arrested Wednesday were suspected of an attempted robbery near the Greenway on Saturday. The incident report indicated the suspects were carrying boxing gloves -- which was also seen in the YouTube video.
The six-minute video shows young males taking turns pushing people off bicycles, pushing down a jogger and pushing young children. In one case, the attacker snatched a hat off someone's head. In another incident, the victim fought back and punched the attacker.
Before most of the assaults, the attacker looks at the camera and says "Watch this."
Police received a number of calls regarding the video, pointing them toward locations, suspects and victims.
"We also know they specifically targeted individuals that they believed would not counter attack," said Sgt. Paul Schnell, of the St. Paul Police Department.
The video was up on YouTube briefly Tuesday, then removed.
Police say they've identified all eight men on the video but don't have enough to arrest them all. They hope to arrest two more soon.
Police said the video may have started as a prank that turned criminal.
"It appears as though, some of the juveniles that were involved in this may have been pretty profoundly influenced, in fact by some of the adults," Schnell said.
Tuesday night, police conducted a search warrant in the St. Paul neighborhood across from Dunning Field, where the video showed kids being pushed down a hill and a man having his hat stolen.
Latoya Harris lives in the building where police seized evidence that may connect the suspects to the crimes.
"It could have been my kids outside playing," she said. "I wouldn't have found that funny at all."
Police believe there may be more crimes that weren't shown in the video, since it suggested it was just episode one.
Police hope to hear from anyone else who may have been attacked between Halloween and Sunday night.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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