On December 17th South Precinct officers responded to a call of a strong arm robbery aboard a Metro bus at Renton Avenue South and South Henderson. At about 9:24 pm, an officer was flagged down by the Metro driver who stated that one of his passengers had just been beaten up and robbed. The victim was aboard a Metro bus playing a video game on his i-phone. He was sitting toward the front of the bus. When the bus was preparing to stop at a busstop at Renton Ave. S. and South Henderson, four suspects approached the front of the bus as if they were getting off. As the suspects, described as three black males and a black female, passed the victim, one of the suspects grabbed the victim’s phone from out of his hands and tried to run away. The victim tried to retain the phone in his grasp and he and the suspect struggled over it. At that point, the other suspects began punching the victim in the face and head. The victim had to let go of his phone in order to protect himself while the suspects continued to assault him. The suspects got off the bus and ran northbound on Renton Avenue South.
As the officer was obtaining information from the victim and witnesses aboard the bus, another officer in the area located a possible suspect near 46th Avenue South and South Cloverdale Street. The suspect fled from officers before they could contact him. Officers quickly set up containment for a K-9 track. An officer on containment in the 8400 Block of 47th Avenue South observed a car with four teenagers in it, matching the physical and clothing description of the suspects. The car was stopped and the occupants detained. Four of the five juvenile suspects in the car were positively identified and arrested and booked into the Youth Services Center for Investigation of Robbery. The i-phone was not recovered. The victim suffered some minor scrapes and bruising to his face, but declined medical treatment. Robbery Unit detectives will be responsible for the follow up investigation.