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Update Feb. 23, 2:15 p.m.
D.C. police today announced the arrests of two juvenile suspects regarding the incident involving the former Marine.
“On Monday, February 22, 2016, First District Detectives and the Criminal Interdiction Unit arrested a 17-year-old juvenile male, of Northwest, D.C. and a 17-year-old juvenile female, of Northwest, D.C.,” according to an MPD release. “The juvenile male was charged with Aggravated Assault andthe juvenile female was charged with Robbery. The investigation into this offense is on-going.”
Original Post
The Metropolitan Police Department is asking the public to help identify three persons of interest in connection with a harrowing assault against a former Marine who is currently a student at American University that occurred on Feb. 12.
The incident, which has made national headlines, started at a McDonald’s located at 911 E St. NW. The former Marine, Christopher Andrew Marquez, told the Post in an interview that a group of young men approached him as he was eating at the fast-food chain and asked him if he believed “black lives matter.” When he tried to mind his own business, Marquez said, the members of the group called him racist. They then followed him outside the McDonald’s, where one of the men allegedly hit Marquez in the head; the latter awoke missing his wallet, a few credit cards, and $400 in cash.
“A victim was exiting a restaurant in the area when he was assaulted by suspect one,” according to an MPD release issued on Thursday. “Suspect two then proceeded to take a wallet that carried a student identification card, credit cards and cash from the victim’s pocket. A third suspect also assaulted the victim. The suspects then fled the scene.”
Marquez, a Hispanic man, described the attack as “a hate crime” to Fox News, adding that such incidents are common.
The incident occurred at roughly 9:40 p.m., per District police. You can watch the recovered surveillance videos below:
Photo by Darrow Montgomery