Video After The Jump
The brutal beating and robbery of a girl in a Seattle bus tunnel has been caught on tape -- along with the inaction of three security guards from whom she sought protection.
A teen girl and three young men face first-degree robbery charges stemming from the attack, during which they allegedly stole the 15-year-old's purse, phone, and iPod.
The 15-year-old victim, who is black, told cops the altercation began at a nearby Macy's, where some in the group taunted her saying she had "nice things" and acts "white," according to court papers filed Wednesday. One of the defendants claims the victim pepper-sprayed a person in the group.
Two Seattle police officers noticed the escalating situation and kicked the group out of the store, then brought the girl and her friend to another exit, the victim said. She reported that she asked the officers for an escort to the bus tunnel, just below the department store, but the officers refused.
She said she then deliberately stood next to the security guards in hopes of warding off further confrontation.
"I went to the security and told them that these kids were trying to jump me," the girl said. "I know that I am about to get jumped and I am hanging around the guards to try and get protection. ... I thought the security guards would defend me."
The guards didn't intervene, though. They have standing orders to "observe and report," so they called police but did nothing else as another 15-year-old girl punched and repeatedly kicked the victim in the head.
King County Sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart said the guards were right to follow their training.
"If you're a bank teller and you do something other than give them the money, you're going to get fired," Urquhart said. "We don't expect civilians to take police action. In this case, it was a violent fight, and they were outnumbered by this pack of people 3-to-1."
Other Kings County officials disagree.
"We are very disappointed in what people see in that video," a transit official, Kevin Desomond, said. "It was absolutely unacceptable."
Government officials as well as executives at Olympic Security Services Inc., which employs the guards, are reviewing protocol in the wake of the incident.
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