Four teens were arrested on attempted murder charges after they beat up a man who was chosen at random, videotaping the planning and the attack “almost like a documentary,” police said.
A Drexel University engineering graduate student told police he was attacked Friday afternoon by four young men who beat him and tried to throw him in front of a moving car, authorities said. The 30-year-old victim was treated for a dislocated jaw.
The suspects, walking around after a scheduled half-day of school, videotaped themselves before the attack as they discussed how they were going to assault a random victim, then took turns holding the camera during the beating, said police Lt. John Walker.
“They were talking about (how) it was an early day (from school), the weather was nice, and what they were going to do,” Walker said. “In the beginning, it’s almost like a documentary.”
“Just pick somebody out, anybody out,” one student said to another on the video, according to Walker. He said there were about two minutes of taping before the assault.
Police identified one of the suspects arrested Monday as Tyrez Osbourne, 18. The other, ages 17 and 16, were not identified because of their ages. After their arrests, all four were expelled from University City High School, district officials said.
Osbourne’s mother said he was an innocent bystander who happened to be nearby and caught on tape.
“He ain’t that kind of guy,” she told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
