Baltimore police arrest suspect in man's beating, stripping [View all]

[alp227]

Source: CNN

Baltimore police say they made an arrest in a violent robbery in March that left a man battered and stripped of his clothes on a street while onlookers laughed and did nothing to help.

Police arrested Aaron Parsons, 20, Friday evening for his alleged involvement in the March 18 incident captured by cell phone videos that went viral nationwide. He faces multiple counts of robbery, theft and reckless endangerment, police said.

The victim was headed to his hotel from a downtown Baltimore club when he was attacked, according to a police report. The man, who had been drinking, told police he could not recall exactly what happened. However, the videos fill in the blanks.

In them, a man is seen standing unsteadily against a row of mailboxes. A crowd starts to gather and women dance suggestively against him. Someone notices his watch and a hand seems to grab something from one of his front pockets.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/14/justice/maryland-beating/index.html

---

The link includes a video, and many are suggesting that this is a hate crime simply based on the fact that the victim was white and suspects black. Other reports claim that the victim was drunk. I think the crime was motivated more on robbery and taking advantage of a drunk person and could have happened to anyone regardless of race.