Prosecutors dismissed charges against six high school students accused of beating and kicking a man in a downtown D.C. Metro station earlier this year.
Police charged six teenagers, students at Wilson Senior High School, in the assault in January at the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro Station. The attack was caught on surveillance video and led the Metro Transit Police chief to characterize violent teens as having a "wolf pack mentality."
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine issued a statement to News4 Thursday saying he could not comment on the specific case, but as a rule, “We may not prosecute to trial a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by evidence sufficient to establish a prima facie showing of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The five boys and one girl, ages 15 and 16, had been charged with aggravated assault, assault on a police officer as well as other charges, and all were ordered to stay off the Metrorail system.
The 35-year-old victim, who had been headed to work Jan. 28, was exiting a Red Line train about 8:20 a.m. when a teen who was part of a group of as many as 30 youths tried to board the train and then sucker punched him, Metro Transit Police said. The victim swung back, and the teens lunged at him.
The teens then got back on the train, leaving the victim injured on the platform, police said. Transit police intercepted the train at the Woodley Park station and arrested the teens.
The victim was taken to a hospital and treated for cuts to the head, police said.
