Crowd Beats, Strips & Robs Tourist On St. Patrick's Day; Incident Caught On Camera
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Caught on camera-- a tourist being beaten in downtown Baltimore, and instead of helping him, a crowd laughs and steals his belongings.
Mike Hellgren has the video and the investigation.
Police hope this video will get the attackers off the streets.
The video shows a man being punched in the face in downtown Baltimore. You can hear his head hit the pavement near the entrance to Courthouse East.
Instead of helping, people laugh.
Then, the crowd strips him naked and takes his car keys, watch, money and iPhone.
It happened St. Patrick's Day. Police say the victim was out partying and woke up the next day at his hotel, cut and bruised with no idea why.
"He had every right to leave wherever he was and get back to where he needed to be safely. Their behavior was just criminal," Det. Nicole Monroe of the Baltimore City Police Department said.
"Not only was he relieved of his property after he was assaulted, but there were a lot of other things done to him that are disturbing to look at, and we want to bring these people to justice," Monroe said.
Those who've seen the video are outraged.
"Oh, my God! Where's the police?" Antonio Richardson of Baltimore said after seeing the video. "It gives us a bad name, Baltimore. And people don't want to, you know, trust us to come down here."
"It's surprising, but it's dangerous," another person said.
"It's awful, obviously. You just have to be really careful on those days. You can't just be wandering around the streets," Diego Tapia said.
Police say they've gotten leads but made no arrests.
"The public is going to be helpful in this case, and they have been helpful thus far," Monroe said.
Those who filmed it for fun and posted it for the world to see unwittingly provided cops and prosecutors with the key evidence in this vicious attack.
The victim didn't even know that such a video existed until a relative watched it online and told him.
After the attack, people bragged about it on camera. Tens of thousands of people have seen the video online.
