Hate Crime Charges Rejected

Prosecutors in Baltimore have decided not to charge the nine middle school students accused in the beating of a 26-year-old woman on a city bus with a hate crime as a judge postponed their trial yesterday until Jan. 31.

Judge Edward R.K. Hargadon, the head of the city’s juvenile judges, granted a request from the state to postpone a Jan. 4 trial date despite objections from the juveniles’ attorneys. A hearing on the teenagers’ home-detention status will take place Jan. 4.

In court yesterday, Assistant State’s Attorney Janet S. Hankin requested the addition of two charges: malicious destruction and disorderly conduct. The teens had previously been charged with aggravated assault and destruction of property.

Defense attorneys said they had not been informed of the additional charges, which will be dealt with at the Jan. 4 hearing.

The Maryland Transit Administration Police Force, which has jurisdiction on buses, had said early in the investigation that it was reviewing the case as a possible racially motivated incident. All nine suspects are black, and the victim is white.

But the charges listed at yesterday’s juvenile hearing did not include hate crimes.

Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for the city state’s attorney’s office, would say only that the charging process is complete, and that no more charges are expected to be filed. She would not elaborate, noting confidentiality laws surrounding juvenile criminal cases.

Prosecutors said that to pursue a hate-crime violation, they would have to prove intent, that the attack was “because of another’s race, color, religious beliefs or national origin.” Interviews with the victim and some of the young suspects indicate that racial slurs might have been used during the fight, but that the fracas might have started over a fight for a seat.

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The Dec. 4 attack on Sarah Kreager was the first of four violent incidents this month aboard MTA buses. Two passengers on a No. 64 bus in Brooklyn were attacked by five men Dec. 10. Eight days later, a girl was stabbed in the arm on a No. 51 bus near Mondawmin Mall. And on Dec. 26, a 14-year-old boy was shot and wounded on a bus in West Baltimore.

The attack on Kreager in the 800 block of W. 33rd St. led to the arrests of nine Robert Poole Middle School students. The six boys and three girls, all 14 or 15 years old, were charged as juveniles with aggravated assault and destruction of property. Kreager, who has been put in a witness protection program, suffered broken facial bones and other injuries after being punched, kicked and dragged off the bus.

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According to [Sarah Kreager’s] account, she sat in the rear of the bus and was threatened by a teenage girl who said her friend wanted the seat. Kreager said she went to sit an another part of the bus with Ennis and said to him, “They don’t got no manners,” causing one of the girls to take a swing at them.

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[Editor’s Note: earlier stories concerning the beating of Sarah Kreager can be found starting here.]