A 13-year-old punk has been accused of stealing a woman’s purse, punching her, and throwing her to the ground. However, he was soon the one kissing the concrete, and it was all caught on video.
Seattle police had a busy Wednesday after they were called to a pharmacy in the 2600 block of Southwest Barton Street over reports of a strong-arm robbery, where a woman claimed she was both attacked and robbed. According to the unnamed victim, it all began when she and an employee confronted a group of teens inside the store after they failed to pay for items.
Unfortunately, rather than handing over the stolen merchandise and going on their way, the punks decided to take a bad situation and make it worse. After being confronted, one of the teens approached the woman and took her purse before running towards the exit, The Blaze reported. The woman chased after the teen, but when she caught up with him at the store’s entrance, he wasn’t willing to give up his loot.
Undeterred from committing even more crimes, the unnamed 13-year-old boy grabbed the woman’s shirt and threw her to the ground, police told KOMO News. When she got back up to chase the boy again, the teen suspect squared up with the woman like he was a boxer, daring her to fight, then he delivered a left hook, punching her in the face before he and his fellow delinquents took off. But things were far from over.
According to authorities, the teen and his group of misfits ran eastbound on Southwest Barton Street, but they didn’t get far. After the victim called the police, officers easily found the suspect and two other teens near 18th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Barton Street. Thanks to another bad choice on his part, the teen would soon be the one kissing the concrete, and it was all caught on video.
As seen in the Seattle police officer’s body cam video, which was released by Seattle police along with the surveillance camera footage from the pharmacy where the boy stole the woman’s purse and assaulted her, the kid lunged forward in what appeared to be a futile attempt to escape the officers surrounding him. Unsurprisingly, his face quickly met the street as he was rightfully detained.
Seattle police placed the teen suspect under arrest. He was subsequently booked into the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center for investigation of robbery, where he hopefully had time to contemplate his life choices. As for the two other teens, they were reportedly identified and released, and we can only hope they learn from their buddy’s mistakes.
While it’s nice to see a criminal being caught and held accountable, there is little joy in knowing this is what some inner-city teenagers do with their time. Equally disappointing is the reaction of passersby while the woman’s belongings were strewn all over the street as she fought off her teen attacker. In fact, some onlookers even appear to attempt to help themselves to the woman’s things, snatching them off the ground while she’s giving chase and subsequently being assaulted.
It saddens and troubles me that no one appeared to try to help this woman. Instead, she seemed to be surrounded by opportunists. So, while we point the finger at the boy who strong-armed her, we also have to ask where he learned such behavior. From what I can see in the clips, it didn’t appear anyone present had a caring or compassionate bone in their body. Instead, people just watched as an innocent woman was both robbed and attacked. Where’s the respect and love for a fellow human? Has society become so void of decency and dignity that no one even thinks to lend another a helping hand in a distressing situation? This is tragic, and something needs to change.
