Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

32 charged with alleged racial assaults

|
|
 
  
Published: Nov. 22, 2009 at 12:02 AM

DENVER, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Denver police say 32 young black men and teenagers have been charged with a series of racial attacks on white and Hispanic men.

Investigators said most of the suspects have ties to gangs, either the Rollin' 60s Crips or the Black Gangster Disciples, The Denver Post reported.

The arrests followed a four-month investigation into a series of assaults in downtown Denver, police said. White and Hispanic men said they were approached by groups of four or five blacks who would attempt to provoke them into a fight with verbal attacks, including racial references.

The victims were usually assaulted and some were robbed of money, cell phones and iPods, police said. Victims were usually hit in the head, leaving them with broken noses or eye sockets, Police Chief Gerry Whitman said.

Whitman said the attacks do not appear to have been planned by one person. But he said the attackers were clearly in communication with one another.

"We have seen coordinated efforts before, but not by this large of a group," Whitman said.

Six assaults and robberies captured by security cameras were not reported to police and may be related, investigators said.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Tibetan pilgrims celebrate New Year Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow Protesters clash in Egypt
Notable deaths of 2012 The Most Desirable Women of 2012 The buildup to the Super Bowl
Additional U.S. News Stories
1 of 25
Rare visitors from the Artic,  Snowy Owls, make appearance in Grays Harbor County.
View Caption
fark
Good News: Researchers invent vaccines to prevent heroin, cocaine, and meth addiction. Bad News:...
"Institutionalizing juveniles and branding this as criminal behavior rather than dealing with it...
A handy guide to completing a collection of the most useless, disgusting things ever created by...
It's one thing to steal a microwave, it's another to steal a microwave tower
Helicopter parents are now following their children from college to the workplace. Say what you...
Having seen the successes of the past decade, 49% of Americans support bombing Iran to prevent them...