3 Teens Arrested After Attack on Metro Train Caught on Camera
A week after a violent beating on a Metro train near Long Beach was filmed and shared on social media thousands of times, sheriff’s officials announced on Monday the arrests of three teenagers in connection to the assault.
The attack, which was captured on the train’s on-board video system and on the cellphone of a witness who posted the video to social media sites, occurred between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, Ramon Montenegro of the Sheriff’s Transit Bureau said.
Aliyah Von Lewis, 18, an unidentified 17-year-old girl, and unidentified 15-year-old boy, were arrested in connection to the incident, which occurred last Tuesday on the northbound Metro Blue Line train.
The boy was arrested Monday, and the two girls detained last Thursday.
In the highly shared video, the victim is brutalized throughout the more than 1-minute clip.
One girl grabs the victim by her sweatshirt and swings her around the train while yelling at her. She then puts the victim in an apparent chokehold, throws her, and repeatedly punches her.
A second girl then joins in the attack, slapping the bloodied victim.
More than a dozen people appeared to be on the train during the incident.
“The victim offered no resistance and appears to be trying to get away from the attackers,” sheriff’s officials said.”
The crime was reported a day after it occurred, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Von Lewis, a Long Beach resident, and the 17-year-old were charged with robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon likely to produce great bodily injury.
The 15-year-old boy was heard on video threatening Metro patrons, sheriff’s officials said, and he was charged with attempting to prevent or dissuade a witness from calling the police, and assault with a deadly weapon likely to produce great bodily injury.
The older teen was booked at the Century Regional Detention Facility, and both juveniles were taken to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall.
The Sheriff’s Department said additional arrests were possible