Jan 31, 2008 5:07 pm US/Eastern
Teen Accuses Victim In MTA Bus Beating
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
A teenager charged in the brutal beating of a woman on an MTA bus says it's the woman who started the fight.
Suzanne Collins reports the 15-year-old's taped statement to police was played at a hearing in juvenile court Thursday.
A detective testified that officers learned the beating victim, Sarah Kreager, was kicked in the head by middle school students during a fight on an MTA bus last month.
Kreager suffered fractured eye sockets and cuts.
Six students are charged with the assault and were in juvenile court Thursday.
The mother of one of those teens says her son insists the victim, who is homeless, had injuries before the fight and claims she provoked the children.
"My son told me once this lady got on the bus, her eye was partially damaged. She went to the back of the bus. The kids sniggled and giggled. She made remarks to her boyfriend, whatever he is. His remarks to her were spit on the 'expletive,'" said Felicia Dorsey, one defendant's mother.
Some of the students have claimed racial slurs were used.
In a taped interview with one of the teenage girls played in court, she tells a detective Kreager "kept trying to come after me. ..the lady started the fight...She hit me in my mouth."
The detective said the girl's story had holes, and she was lying.
The defense lawyers are arguing that the statements made by the juveniles should not be allowed in court. They say those young people may not have offered those statements voluntarily and may have been too young to really understand their legal rights.
"If it was my child, I would certainly want to be present while the police are interrogating him, particularly over an extended period of time," said defense lawyer Donald Wright.
During the taped interrogation of the 15-year-old girl, the detective warned her she could spend 10 years in adult prison.
"I don't think that's something a police officer should ever do, is threaten a child with prison," said Garland Sanderson, another teen's lawyer.
One mother complained that she wasn't called by police, and when her son didn't return from school, it took her until 9 p.m. to find him.
After the judge rules on this issue, the hearing to decide if the teens committed the crime will begin.
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