Or is the Media trying to Instigate a Race/Culture War between African Americans and Latinos........
Please Read:
http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/Police_Group_of_teens_targeted_Hispanics.html
Local News
Police: Group of teens targeted Hispanics
By Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer 9/12/08
Montgomery County police said Thursday a group of five teens targeted Hispanics in at least 10 violent armed robberies between July 28 and Sept. 3 because, one suspect told investigators, he “hates Hispanic people.”
Montgomery County police spokeswoman Melanie Brenner said that when detectives were interviewing one of the suspects, he said the victims — all male Hispanics — were targeted because of their race.
Police are pursuing the possibility of designating the multiple armed robberies as hate crimes. Bizarrely, one of the suspects is Hispanic himself. The arrests came after police observed a sharp rise in attacks against Hispanics over the last month that, according to court documents, became increasingly violent.
In one attack, on Aug. 23, a little more than a week before the early September arrests, the crew allegedly beat a man so severely that he can no longer see out of his left eye, court documents said.
On Aug. 28, another victim was approached by a black male who tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Give me your money,” court documents said. The victim’s last memory was hearing the slide of a semiautomatic handgun being pulled back place before he was beaten unconscious. Both of his eye sockets were fractured.
But by then, police say they had assembled a special team to investigate the crimes and were closing in on the teens.
Using surveillance photos from a CVS where one of the suspects allegedly used stolen credit cards and observations by police officers in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, the team tracked down the conspiring robbers. Eventually, their getaway car, a black 1991 Acura Legend, and confessions linked all five, court documents said.
It remains unclear how a Hispanic 18-year-old, Victor Alejandro Gutierrez, was caught up in a mostly black group, some of whom proclaimed to hate Hispanics, Brenner said. There is no indication the group is connected to a gang, she added. Police are concerned that there may be other victims who have not reported being robbed because they fear their immigration status may become an issue, Brenner said.
“We want to emphasize that the status of victims will not be questioned,” she said. “There are many in the Hispanic community who are reluctant to report crimes, and that can also make them easy targets.”
The suspects were taken to the Montgomery County Adult Detention Center awaiting hearings.
fklopott@dcexaminer.com
Please Read:
http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/Police_Group_of_teens_targeted_Hispanics.html
Local News
Police: Group of teens targeted Hispanics
By Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer 9/12/08
Montgomery County police said Thursday a group of five teens targeted Hispanics in at least 10 violent armed robberies between July 28 and Sept. 3 because, one suspect told investigators, he “hates Hispanic people.”
Montgomery County police spokeswoman Melanie Brenner said that when detectives were interviewing one of the suspects, he said the victims — all male Hispanics — were targeted because of their race.
Police are pursuing the possibility of designating the multiple armed robberies as hate crimes. Bizarrely, one of the suspects is Hispanic himself. The arrests came after police observed a sharp rise in attacks against Hispanics over the last month that, according to court documents, became increasingly violent.
In one attack, on Aug. 23, a little more than a week before the early September arrests, the crew allegedly beat a man so severely that he can no longer see out of his left eye, court documents said.
On Aug. 28, another victim was approached by a black male who tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Give me your money,” court documents said. The victim’s last memory was hearing the slide of a semiautomatic handgun being pulled back place before he was beaten unconscious. Both of his eye sockets were fractured.
But by then, police say they had assembled a special team to investigate the crimes and were closing in on the teens.
Using surveillance photos from a CVS where one of the suspects allegedly used stolen credit cards and observations by police officers in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, the team tracked down the conspiring robbers. Eventually, their getaway car, a black 1991 Acura Legend, and confessions linked all five, court documents said.
It remains unclear how a Hispanic 18-year-old, Victor Alejandro Gutierrez, was caught up in a mostly black group, some of whom proclaimed to hate Hispanics, Brenner said. There is no indication the group is connected to a gang, she added. Police are concerned that there may be other victims who have not reported being robbed because they fear their immigration status may become an issue, Brenner said.
“We want to emphasize that the status of victims will not be questioned,” she said. “There are many in the Hispanic community who are reluctant to report crimes, and that can also make them easy targets.”
The suspects were taken to the Montgomery County Adult Detention Center awaiting hearings.
fklopott@dcexaminer.com
