'You Have To Be Alert Constantly': Community In Shock After Man In Wheelchair Robbed On LRT
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Two 14-year-old boys are suspected of attacking a man in a wheelchair and robbing him on a light rail platform near the state Capitol.
The robbery was captured on surveillance video, and the images are disturbing,
The incident happened Sunday, Aug. 25 at 4:30 in the afternoon. The video shows the two boys on bicycles approach the man, eventually knocking him over and stealing what appears to be his cell phone.
The man was sitting in his wheelchair on the eastbound platform when the attack happened.
From two different angles, the two teens are seen harassing the man. He tries to hide his phone, but they continue to go after it, eventually grabbing it and knocking him backward before taking off.
Metro Transit riders who watched the video were shocked.
"This is a person in a wheelchair. Oh, my goodness. That is just, wow." She added, "What do we do? You can't go out; you have to be alert constantly," Shari Coleman said.
Bethany Tolo said, "That is horrible. I cant believe somebody could do that to a guy in a wheelchair. I mean, to a person in general."
As chilling as this video is, according to the most recent public statistics, it's relatively rare. In 2017, Metro Transit reported 184 robberies on Metro Transit bus and rail lines -- that's out of nearly 82 million rides.
A Metro Transit spokesperson told us it's safe to ride the trains.
Police know who the two 14 year old suspects are, but it is unknown to WCCO whether they were taken into custody. A Metro Transit police report on the issue is mostly redacted and sheds little information on what happened.
