Great police work.

How did the young man call police when he woke up, if his cell phone had just been stolen?

Good question!

this news article accents on negative hype and not totally telling the truth in this matter of these five young men who are more familiar than causal aquantance, they have attended school together. the news article would have you believe that this was an conspired robbery it is way far from the truth instead it is a sene that took place on july 02,2012 that involved fire crackers,an intial punch than an reaction,a camera, a backback an a wallet.theses young men are not criminals nor do they have a history of crime.the 50,000 bail that was increase to 65,0000 because an request for reduction was being ask. the media is trying to paint a negative picture of these young men.the media shouldnt be allowed to comment especially if they haven't read the report. some of us have the power or the tools in our community to entertain the people that live in it. tell the whole truth.

No, that is not what she said. The boy threw a firecracker at the car. When the driver of the car got out to confront him, the boy punched him in the face. THEN he got his butt handed to him. I am not saying it was right and they certainly should not have taken his stuff, BUT if you throw a firecracker at a passing car and then have the nerve to punch the car owner in the face when he confronts you, surely you deserve to be hit back. What they should have done was called the police on him, which would have beem the smart thing to do, but youth and stupidity won the battle over common sense. This makes them ALL criminals, including the alleged victim who started the whole thing to begin with. Know your facts before you pass judgement.

Oh I get it! It's because they are black that we should automatically believe the news and that these idiots are criminals right? And no, we should not by all means try to find out the truth of the situation because the news always tells us the truth 100% right?

Oh I see, one guy started a fight with four guys at 1:30 in the morning? Sure, happens all the time. And since he attacked us, lets rob him. If your comments were not pathetic, they would be funny. You are correct though, they are "idiots"; they are also criminals. The police stated that all four had criminal records, is that false?

That is correct. Did you actually READ what I wrote? let me say it again
"The boy threw a firecracker at the car. When the driver of the car got out to confront him, the boy punched him in the face" You get it this time???
Yes it is false as in fact one of those boys, NOT the alleged victim, absolutely does not have a criminal record. Why don't you get and READ a copy of the actual police report and get your facts straight.

Took your advice and got the police report, and spoke to the detectives. It is worse than I thought. These predators were looking for trouble. They claim a firecracker was thrown at them and the person ran. They drove around looking for someone to beat up. Thats why they are being charged with conspiracy. They found a vulnerable victim, surrounded him like a pack of dogs and hit him from behind and robbed him. According to the police, the victim had no firecrackers in his possession nor did he have any residue on his hands, clothing, or in his backpack. Nothing was said about the victim hitting one of the criminals. The victim had no marks on his hands that would suggest he threw a punch. None of the criminals had any injuries. At least 3 of the men have criminal records and probable juvenile records as well. And don't even try that black nonsense, the 4 criminals are black and the victim is white, so who are the racists?? I suggest you bake some cookies and bring them to prison on visitors day.

This article is written in a biased negative tone which leads me to say that you, for one, should be ashamed of the way you characterized these boys, who are, nevertheless, NOT criminals, but young adults.

If someone through a firer cracker at my car I would knock him out too. the robbery wasn't needed, but thats how it goes sometimes. Some people need to learn how to take a punch like a man sometimes.

WantsTheTruth

Ben Steele,
Why would detectives speak to you about this case? This is an on going investigation. If they were talking with you, someone needs to be disciplined. Or, perhaps they spoke to you in confidence and now you’re spreading this on a public board?

Which is it?

I’m not a judge or the jury and would rather wait for the facts to come out on this case.

To Pointing out the facts:
Two of the officers are white and one is black. Nice try. One of the "white" officers might be latino, I'm not sure. The police departments are well aware that there are people like you who will try to play the race card. They are way ahead of you.

“They claim a firecracker was thrown at them and the person ran. They drove around looking for someone to beat up. Thats why they are being charged with conspiracy. They found a vulnerable victim, surrounded him like a pack of dogs and hit him from behind and robbed him.

The victim had no marks on his hands that would suggest he threw a punch. None of the criminals had any injuries. At least 3 of the men have criminal records and probable juvenile records as well. “

Your words—seems the jury is out according to you. According to some sources, it seems to be more to this incident than the accusations that you are presenting. Some involved in the incident KNEW each other from school. Sorry, something seems amiss here. And, the original story in Patch said all the accusers have a criminal past. If they did a fact check, that’s not true.

Some of the above posts probably are family members and at least one post said the involved “actor’ had injuries to his face and damage to his car. Again, if true, this will be presented to a jury to judge. Like they say, there’s three sides to a story.

What is truly troubling, the robbing of the victim; a four against one and beating someone to unconsciousness. Totally uncalled for. This was WRONG and FOOLISH on the ‘actors’ part. And because of these actions, they ruined their future in the process.

I knew these young men personally. I went to high school with them. I now attend Georgia State University with a 3.8 GPA. So I say that to say I believe the report is fabricated to make these four young men look guilty to the public. Yes, they are guilty for the robbery but every one makes mistakes and should learn from them. No one but the four young men and the "victim" knows what exactly happened with this incident. I have a question. Did they recover the stolen items from the four young men?
I was extremely close to one of them and I am disappointed they even put themselves in this situation but I feel that racism is involved in some sort of way. I lived in Maplewood for four years and came across racism on a daily basis. Not only in public but in the classroom. These young men are always together and yes may have come in contact with the law which makes it easier for them to be blamed. I don't know the full story but I just want to say they are in my prayers as well as their families, I hoped they learned their lesson, and I hope justice is served.

Disregard my question. I just re-read the report.

I don't think these young men are criminals. I just think they made a stupid decision which they will learn from.

I think that the writer of this did a poor job of getting all the facts of the case. It seems that there obvious missing pieces and facts that the writer missed and i am shocked that this article was allowed to be published.
As far as the case itself it was wrong for the boys to rob the man, there is no disputing that but if the "victim" hit the driver was he suppose to take that?And would it be natural for his friends to let it go instead of standing up for their friend? Ask yourself that question Ben Steele as you too seem to be a family member or close friend to the victim. It is understandable why you are upset because no one deserves to be knocked out unconscious and robbed but you cannot dismiss other facts of the case and look at one side of it. All i can say is it's up to the courts and legal system to decide what is the truth.

Does the last comment need to be made? Former baseball star? Whether the story is completely true (seems like it's leaving out a lot of major details), bringing up the comment about him being a baseball star is pretty irrelevant. Seems like an unwaranted comment that could only lead to wrong associations and correlations

Directed at Ben Steel

Whats disturbing is the fact that these boys were assaulted first but did act in recklessness manor, yet you talk about these kids as if you know them personally. The most obvious point that hasnt been made (im sure many are abstaining from mentioning) is that these boys are black. Im sure the tone of this discussion would change if they were all of a different race.

None of the charges seem to include assault...

It is amazing how the details of this night are slowing emerging in this post. Admittedly, I am related to one of the four young men. I try to look fairly at all sides of this situation realizing that only the five people there that night know the whole story. The four of them should have never got out of the car, period. They should have called it stupid that someone threw the firecracker and kept it moving. That was there first mistake. Once they moved beyond that they put themselves in the position of being judged by first their community and next a court of law. I agree that their actions put them squarely in the description of what most people would call criminals and those with some compassion would call a grave error in judgement of youth. Ben Steele is passionate in his view and coming from his perspective I understand his stance. Someone has threaten the safety, peace and tranquility of his neighborhood, most of us would be upset if we felt a similar violation. My young family member made a major mistake and it has awakened him to some very harsh realities that he just couldn't see before. Young adults especially young men between the ages of 16 - 24 often operate with a vision of life that leads them to make some very unwise decisions. We can look back at any number of incidents that have been the result of college kids making bad decsions and yes they are in the papers. Fraternity pranks resulting in severe injuries and death. We were all young once.

When young people make a mistake of this magnitude we as the public have a chance to do much more than send them to prison and ruin the rest of their life, we have an opportunity to turn them around and make a better person out of them. We have an opportunity to use them to reach others than may listen to them when they wouldn't listen to anyone else. I'm not saying the crime should go without punishment, I'm saying we also need to see the opportunity. The way things work now, a youthful mistake only creates another group of men that will go to prison, get out and never be able to be a useful member of society. Most people have either done something or have knowledge of something that was done that if devulged could legally incriminate them. Most people are fortunate to never have to face the consequences of their actions. My prayers go out to everyone involved, the victim, the "criminals", the community, and to Ben Steele. No one walks away without being touched by this incident. I pray that the best for everyone concerned comes to pass whatever that may be.

It's sad that you're all sitting at your computers arguing about a case that has nothing to do with any of you. Is this what stay at home parents look forward to?

I have and I stand on what I say. Why bring this up in the first place? And I again, who are you to judge and condemn a person for the rest of their lives?

"I wrote that I would be heartbroken and I would feel like a failure as a parent. I really would. If my son brutally beat and robbed a young man in a 4 on 1 confrontation, that's exactly how I'd feel to know I raised such a thieving coward."

Your words. Again, why bring this up? And I DO see what your trying to imply. Perhaps, 'passive aggressive' in your statement? You need to choose YOUR words correctly especially when your say things like, "they don't belong here. Not in MAPSO, not anywhere where decent people live."

And what does that solve? I am in NO WAY defending the 4 accusers. That's why we have a judicial sysyem that will decide their fate; not you.

Brutally beat and one punch are two completely different things every action has a reaction and I feel like more fingers should be pointed at the boy who originally acted irresponsibly. How dangerous could it have been if the fire cracker didn't land where the boy thought it would. This would have been a completely different story. I was also told that the young man was intoxicated.