http://www.timesdispatch.com/servle...65379&pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle
Viewers robbed after fireworks
Young men wielding baseball bats injure 10 near Boulevard Bridge
BY PAIGE AKIN MUDD
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Thursday, July 6, 2006
An evening of fun, family and fireworks took a violent turn just
after the last sparks above Dogwood Dell fell from the air.
Ten people who had watched the July Fourth fireworks display from the
boulder-strewn banks below the Boulevard Bridge were robbed and
beaten by a group of baseball bat-wielding young men. The assailants
demanded the victims' wallets, purses, cell phones and other
valuables, Richmond police said.
"It's the Fourth of July. We're celebrating our freedom, and then
this happens," said one woman who witnessed the attacks and who would
identify herself only as Karen, 30, of Richmond. "It was terrifying."
Richmond police confirmed that four of the 10 robbery victims were
injured, but authorities would not comment on those injuries. One
man, who identified himself as Stavros, said he had to be rescued by
boat from a rock in the middle of the river after fleeing from a man
with a bat.
The attacks began about 9:45 p.m. on the James River near Westover
Hills Boulevard and Riverside Drive. There, about 30 people had
gathered to watch the fireworks. When the show ended, they packed up
to leave.
"Then we heard something fall very close to us. It was these huge
stones, and we thought someone was throwing them off the bridge above
us," Karen said. "We yelled, "Hey, there's people down here. Stop
throwing things.'"
That's when a group of 15 to 20 young men in dark pants and white
T-shirts came down to the river's edge. Some carried baseball bats,
Karen said. Police confirmed that the men used baseball bats and
40-ounce beer bottles as weapons.
She and her friend hid until they had a chance to run to safety.
Stavros, 20, of Richmond used his backpack to shield himself from the
rocks. When the group of young men emerged, he and several other
people huddled for cover behind a large rock.
"Then I saw two people approaching us, and I saw something large and
metallic in one guy's hand," he said, and he thought it was a knife
or bat. "I told people we were going to have to jump in the river. As
soon as I realized they weren't just robbing us, I jumped in the
river and started swimming."
He later learned that people who stayed near shore were hit with aluminum bats.
Stavros clung to a rock in the middle of the river. Because he didn't
know if the attackers had guns, he said, "I was really worried that I
was going to get shot at because I was a pretty visible target."
After about 30 minutes, a Richmond fire department dive team
responding to a 911 call from one of the victims rescued him by boat.
After the attacks, police and rescue workers searched for the men
involved in the robberies and assaults. All the assailants were
between 15 and 20 years old, according to police. No arrests have
been made, Richmond police said yesterday, but authorities continue
to investigate.
"It was the perfect place to watch the fireworks until this," Karen
said. "It just doesn't make any sense."
