Two men have been charged with first-degree aggravated robbery in the video-recorded assault of an elderly woman at a south Minneapolis transit center that investigators called "appalling."
Charges say Wesley N. Martin, 21, of Blaine, and Deondre R. Jackson, 20, of Minneapolis, participated in the assault on Feb. 12 that was posted on Facebook the next day, according to the allegations filed Tuesday.
A court filing Tuesday said the victim was heard on the video yelling, "Help me!" yet "there are many people in the shelter who do nothing."
"The video is appalling," transit police officer Michael Leubner wrote in the complaint.
According to charges:
Police reviewed surveillance footage from the shelter, which showed the victim sitting on a bench inside the Chicago-Lake Transit Center.
Martin, Jackson and an unnamed accomplice approach the woman and yell at her. She ignores them at first, then tries to get up and is repeatedly shoved back onto the bench.
Martin steals a liquor bottle from the woman's jacket. When a bystander tries to intervene, Martin pushes her aside. He then gropes the victim, who tries to escape as the two hold and take her jacket.
