Security Guard Foils Teens In Another BART Strong-Arm Robbery
OAKLAND (KCBS) -- BART Police are reviewing on-board video to consider criminal charges against a group of teens accused in another strong-arm robbery at the Coliseum Station in Oakland.
This latest assault took place during the Friday evening commute, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
A teen in a group of around a dozen allegedly snatched an iPhone from a woman as the train was approaching the Coliseum Station.
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They all ran from the train but an off-duty security guard witnessed the crime and followed them onto the platform, demanding the phone back. That's when 62-year-old Leonard Brown was punched and kicked by several young people but did manage to get the phone back.
BART police were nearby, detaining the teens as they ran into the neighborhood. But witnesses could not identify which kid took the phone, they were photographed and released to their parents.
Brown suffered from a cut hand but was otherwise OK.
The incident was similar to another robbery and beating by dozens of teens at the same station in April that lead to several arrests.
BART commuter Charles Ennis was not involved in Friday's robbery, but he tackled another robber on June 18 at the same BART station.
He says a teen boy who was about 16 years old snatched a woman's smartphone on the platform. He chased the kid down.
"I drove him to the sideline and grabbed him against the wall. Held him, asked him to bring out the phone," remembered Ennis. "He complied. I gave it to the old lady and he ran."
He received a cut to his forehead during the confrontation.
"[I] recommend more people do what I did, so I don't have to do it alone. Having to do this stuff alone is what makes it so dangerous. It's crazy to think that this is a really common thing to be happening at this station," said Ennis.
BART is downplaying the robberies, saying there is no need to make a big deal out of the incidents because there's no public threat.
BART officials didn't even tell passengers about these latest robberies.
They declined an interview Thursday and called this an attempted robbery because the Good Samartian got the phone back.