Video Of Elderly Woman's Assault Leads Police To Suspects
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A video of the robbery and beating of a woman has gone viral on social media.
The attack happened at the Chicago and Lake Streets Transit Center in south Minneapolis. The images were shared by the people responsible for the attack, and it's that video that led to police looking at their system of cameras to identify and bring them to justice.
Cameras posted inside and outside of the transit center gave Metro Transit officers the images they needed to track down the people responsible for the brutal attack of an elderly woman. This is the video that was uploaded to Facebook that has now gone viral on other social media sites.
According to court documents, a man is seen taking a bottle of liquor from inside the woman's jacket. He also runs his hands over her stomach, bottom and thighs and keeps her from getting up and getting away.
The video is narrated by another man, who decided to record the incident on his cellphone.
"Because of that video, we were able to go and look at our cameras and be able to better identify some of the individuals," said Metro Transit Public Information Officer Howie Padilla.
Police say 20-year-old Wesley Martin is the man in the blue jacket who allegedly robbed the victim. Deondre Jackson, 20, is the man police believe recorded the incident on his phone.
Cries from the victim were answered by a man who Martin can be seen punching and kicking in the video. Both men face felony first-degree aggravated robbery charges.
"These arrest these charges they are absolute testimony to those security measures that we talk about all the time," Padilla said.
Metro Transit's elaborate camera system includes cameras in the transit center as well as buses, bus shelters and light rail platforms. They believe these camera are not only a deterrent, but also help them catch criminals.