Philadelphia Police Inspector Raymond Evers announced the arrests of six teenagers accused of randomly attacking people in Center City back on Nov. 19, 2024.
Philadelphia police announced charges against six teenagers accused of randomly attacking multiple people during the middle of the day in Center City earlier this month.
Philadelphia Police Inspector Raymond Evers announced the arrests during a press conference at 2 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 25.
The four attacks all occurred in a one-hour span during the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Center City.
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At 3:15 p.m., the group of teens attacked a homeless man on 15th and Chestnut streets, police said.
Only minutes later, at 3:20 p.m., a 24-year-old woman was walking on 17th and Chestnut streets when she was approached by the group who pushed her to the ground and punched her in the back of the head three times before fleeing on foot, according to investigators. The woman was taken to the hospital and treated for a concussion.
Then, at 3:45 p.m., a 31-year-old man was walking on the 200 block of North 19th Street when the teens punched him repeatedly in the face and head, police said.
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Finally, at 4:10 p.m., a woman in her 40s was walking along the 2000 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, when the group punched her in the head several times and pulled her hair out before fleeing on foot, police said.
On Nov. 20, police released surveillance video showing some of the attacks, leading to several tips from the public.
“How these victims were chosen by the group of assailants is anyone’s guess," Philadelphia Police Captain Jason Smith said. “What we observe on video is that this group, they approach their victims from behind. They punch them, punch them in the back of the head and they knock them to the ground, and they proceed to attack them as a group.”
On Nov. 21, one of the teens -- a 14-year-old girl who was wearing pink boots in the surveillance video -- surrendered to police with her parents, according to investigators. Police said the girl appeared to be the leader of the group.
On Nov. 22, the five other teens involved in the attacks surrendered to police with their parents as well, police said. Inspector Evers said there was a seventh teen who was with the group but that teen was not involved in any of the assaults.
The six teenagers -- who are between the ages of 13 and 15 -- will be charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and conspiracy.
Inspector Evers said all six teenagers attend Anthony Wayne Academy on 5500 Wayne Avenue. Both the school and the parents of the six teens are cooperating with the investigation, according to Evers.
Evers described Wayne Academy as a good school and said none of the teens had ever been arrested prior to last week's incident. He also said they currently don't have a motive for the attacks.
"[They] go to a good school, good parents," Inspector Evers said. "They should be doing good things. So we're not sure what happened here."
While the teens are all in custody, police are still investigating the incident. If you have any information, call 215-686-3093 or 215-686-TIPS.
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