I Was Assaulted And Want To Press Charges

I was walking home the other night when all of a sudden I was jumped by 5 guys. They assaulted me and tried to rob me. After they stopped hitting me I called the cops and the cops managed to catch them all. Since I was so disoriented, I was only able to ID 2 of them. The cops arrested 2 of them.

I am suppose to receive the report in the mail in about 2 weeks.

I want to press charges and make these barbarians pay.

I did not go to the hospital. I was only bruised up with a bloody nose and lip. They did not steal anything.

What can I do? What are my options?

They were all juveniles.

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Quoting Xie

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I was walking home the other night when all of a sudden I was jumped by 5 guys. They assaulted me and tried to rob me. After they stopped hitting me I called the cops and the cops managed to catch them all. Since I was so disoriented, I was only able to ID 2 of them. The cops arrested 2 of them.

I am suppose to receive the report in the mail in about 2 weeks.

I want to press charges and make these barbarians pay.

I did not go to the hospital. I was only bruised up with a bloody nose and lip. They did not steal anything.

What can I do? What are my options?

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Only the state can "press" charges. At this point, you can contact the law enforcement agency and ask them where the case stands and if it has been forwarded to the district attorney yet.

Depending on your state (which I did not see mentioned in your post) you might have a right to financial assistance for medical bills or lost wages as well as restitution to be paid by the defendants if they are convicted. You may want to inquire about any victim/witness services available in the county where the crime occurred.

- Carl

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Quoting cdwjava

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Only the state can "press" charges. At this point, you can contact the law enforcement agency and ask them where the case stands and if it has been forwarded to the district attorney yet.

Depending on your state (which I did not see mentioned in your post) you might have a right to financial assistance for medical bills or lost wages as well as restitution to be paid by the defendants if they are convicted. You may want to inquire about any victim/witness services available in the county where the crime occurred.

- Carl

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Thanks Carl.

I am in Virginia and this happened in the city of Richmond.

I'm not familiar with the law or the process of this at all.

I have no medical bills or lost wages.

Here is a link to Virginia Victims Services:

http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/victims/?menuLevel=5

There is information and contact numbers for assistance. They can likely refer you to a local office where someone can answer all your questions and help you track the case through the court system.

You might also check the local court websites once you have some idea what the charges will be and whether it is being forwarded for trial.

- Carl

Why did they jump you in the first place?

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Quoting blueeagle

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Why did they jump you in the first place?

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Supposedly they tried to rob him ... but, I wonder if there was not something else that led up to that? Mob muggings are extremely rare.


- Carl

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Quoting cdwjava

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Supposedly they tried to rob him ... but, I wonder if there was not something else that led up to that? Mob muggings are extremely rare.


- Carl

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Extremely. I've never heard of one case like this though. I just find it strange why they didn't take anything though. If there intent was robbery, I don't see what was holding them back. 5-1 isn't very good odds. Perhaps somebody that had a vendetta against the OP had this arranged for purposes other than simple robbery. This might explain why there were so many of them. I would suggest the OP seek some form of protection ASAP.

Edit: he was able to identify two of the teenagers, right? This would suggest he was at least acquainted with them.

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Quoting blueeagle

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Extremely. I've never heard of one case like this though. I just find it strange why they didn't take anything though. If there intent was robbery, I don't see what was holding them back. 5-1 isn't very good odds. Perhaps somebody that had a vendetta against the OP had this arranged for purposes other than simple robbery. This might explain why there were so many of them. I would suggest the OP seek some form of protection ASAP.

Edit: he was able to identify two of the teenagers, right? This would suggest he was at least acquainted with them.

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Well, maybe he recognized them ... perhaps from a club, locale, home, etc. that he was visiting when he ran afoul of them.

There is almost certainly something more here.

However, I can think of very little that might justify a drubbing by 5 people. Though, if they did not force you into the hospital, it's likely they did not want to hurt him TOO badly.

- Carl

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Quoting cdwjava

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Well, maybe he recognized them ... perhaps from a club, locale, home, etc. that he was visiting when he ran afoul of them.

There is almost certainly something more here.

However, I can think of very little that might justify a drubbing by 5 people. Though, if they did not force you into the hospital, it's likely they did not want to hurt him TOO badly.

- Carl

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Agreed. I'm not saying the OP was at fault at all though. I'm just saying there may be more to this then what meets the eye.

There are any number of reasons why they stopped. Most likely they were worried somebody spotted them.

There was nothing more to it.

I had never seen these guys in my life. I was also surprised to see 5 black juveniles in my neighborhood because my street and the surrounding streets are mainly white. I'm just a college student who lives off campus. Where I am isn't even a bad part of town. I've lived there 3 years and never seen or heard anything like this before.

One of them asked me for a cigarette and then for money.

I'm guessing they jumped me for the fun factor of seeing fear in my eyes and to get some money. I felt them go through my pockets and they found my keyes and threw them like 5 feet away. They probably think they are a gang or something. I have no idea why they were on this side of town. There was a restaurant full of people like half a block away. Expensive, mostly white ritzy place.

I'll try to answer any questions you guys have, so you can better help me.

Thanks for the responses, I appreciate it.

It COULD have been a gang. And legally it is. In my state it's considered "Organized Crime" for 3 or more individuals to engage in illegal activity.

Carl and I were just saying how rare gang muggings are. But they are not impossible.

Did you say the police arrested 2 of the attackers? Perhaps they could help locate the other 3?

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Quoting blueeagle

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It COULD have been a gang. And legally it is. In my state it's considered "Organized Crime" for 3 or more individuals to engage in illegal activity.

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That's different. Here, we might be able to articulate "conspiracy" (a felony), but unless they had a unifying symbol, name, etc., it wouldn't have been a "gang" per our law.

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Carl and I were just saying how rare gang muggings are. But they are not impossible.

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Yep. Group muggings like this are very rare and most often found when someone is lying to cover up something else (like, losing the rent money to a prostitute, getting beat up over a drug deal, etc.). But, usually no suspects in those are identified, so that lends credence to your tale.

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Did you say the police arrested 2 of the attackers? Perhaps they could help locate the other 3?

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If the two dime off the other three there is a chance ... but, some DA's like specific ID to charge. Plus, perhaps the two that were identified that were the only ones that were identified as certainly landing blows. Perhaps the others might be charged with encouraging a fight or some such thing and convinced to plead against their two pals?

- Carl

Usually most (but not all) criminals will not hesitate to turn in a friend in exchange for a lighter sentence. However, about 40% are very loyal and wont budge. Either that or they fear getting killed for being a snitch.