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Additional 19 Adults, 6 Juveniles Charged In Downtown Attacks

34 Total Suspects Are Charged In Racially Motivated Robberies, Assaults

POSTED: 6:05 pm MST November 25, 2009
UPDATED: 6:20 pm MST November 25, 2009

Prosecutors formally charged an additional 19 adults and six juveniles Wednesday in a string of racially motivated robberies and assaults in Downtown Denver.

On Tuesday, District Attorney Mitch Morrissey's office charged nine suspects in the brutal attacks where police said gangs of young black men and women would often surround and assault a lone white victim, then steal money, credit cards, cell phones or iPods.

With the latest charges, the total number of arrested defendants charged in the brutal attacks is now 34. Only one suspect, 18-year-old Allen Ford, remains at large after Denver police conducted a huge sweep for accused attackers last Friday.

The blitz attacks often began with a gang making verbal threats, Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman said recently.

"Without warning the suspects would attack the victim, usually with a punch to the head, with the intent of knocking the victim unconscious," he said. "Other suspects would then join the assault and, in some instances, would rob the victims."

In six of the seven attacks cited Wednesday, all of the suspects were charged with "bias-motivated" crimes along with other counts ranging from assault to robbery.

The surprise attacks often caught visitors off-guard in the popular downtown entertainment district.

On Aug. 11, Blake Patton and Geno West, both 18, and Donald Thomas, 22, so fiercely attacked a man at 13th Avenue and Pearl Street that the victim was hospitalized in a coma for a period of time, according to district attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough. The suspects are charged with first-degree assault, robbery and bias-motivated crime.

In these cases, a charge of a bias-motivated crime means the suspects had the intent to intimidate or harass another person because of their race, according to prosecutors.

One 20-year-old suspect, Xavier Francis, was charged in four racially-fueled attacks.

On Aug. 2, Francis and 20-year-old George Wright are accused of throwing a victim through a glass window at 1401 19th St. The two men are charged with second-degree assault, and two counts of bias-motivated crime.

Adult defendants charged Wednesday are scheduled to appear in Denver District Court on Monday.

The six juveniles charged Wednesday were not named because they are being prosecuted as juveniles. However, two juveniles, both age17, were charged as adults Tuesday.

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