Police are trying to identify a group of teens who were caught on a surveillance video beating two men outside a hotel in Washington DC.
The video, released Wednesday, shows what police and witnesses say are teens between the ages of 13 and 15 beating a man to the ground, and then continuing to assault him as he was down.
DC Police Chief Peter Newsham told reporters on Thursday that there may be as many at 10 or 12 suspects. On Friday, police announced a 17-year-old juvenile male had been arrested and charged with aggravated assault.
While police are still investigating, Newsham said the beating might have been a case of mistaken identity.
At around 1 a.m. on July 14, one of the suspects outside a Hilton in the Dupont Circle neighborhood called out to the group of teens “that’s him,” before they all descended upon one of the men, according to a police report.
Surveillance video shows the suspects viciously beating one man. The second man yelled to the attackers, “that’s not him, you have the wrong person!” But then he, too, was punched, according to CNN affiliate WJLA.
The suspects fled, and the victims were treated for nonlife-threatening injuries, according to the police report.
“We had an out of control group of people that we need to get off the streets,” said DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. “They need to realize this is not just some game.”
