Attorneys for two of the nine Robert Poole Middle School students accused of brutally beating a woman on a city bus went on the offensive Tuesday ? accusing the victim of provoking the attack and the police of arresting the wrong teens.
“It is sensational and headline-grabbing to state that a woman innocently walked onto a Baltimore City bus and was viciously attacked simply because she was white. Those sensational headlines simply are not true,” said Jay Ortis, attorney for a 14-year-old boy charged with attacking Sarah Kreager, 26, and Troy Ennis, 30, on Dec. 4. “Investigation has revealed that it may have been Ms. Kreager who initiated this altercation and it may have been Mr. Ennis who used racially charged language directed at these children.”
The nine teens were arrested in the high-profile attack on Kreager, who said she was twice denied an open seat by the students, before she was “immediately attacked” upon sitting down.
“Sarah Kreager?s credibility is unstable at best,” said attorney Quinton Herbert, who represents an accused 15-year-old boy. “This is a woman who is pending attempted distribution charges for allegedly trying to sell narcotics to an undercover detective. … There also appears to be a history of domestic violence and narcotics violations in the backgrounds of Ms. Kreager and Troy Ennis, who may or may not be Larry Ennis, who may or may not be Troy Stinson.”
The six boys and three girls charged with punching and kicking Kreager were coming home from school in Hampden, said MTA police, who are investigating whether the incident was a “possible hate crime.”
Kreager is white; the students, ages 14 and 15, are black. Kreager and Ennis were not available for comment.
The attorneys said those responsible for beating Kreager fled the scene. They say Kreager and Ennis? identifications of the students are suspect because of the problems with “cross-racial identification.” The bus? video camera appears to have not been recording during the beating.
Margaret Burns, spokeswoman for Baltimore City prosecutors, defended Kreager.
“Is there any question that this woman was savagely and viciously beaten on a public bus?” she asked rhetorically. “We will pursue justice on behalf of this innocent victim.”
Kreager is in witness protection, after a cousin of one of the accused sent a threatening message to the homeless shelter where Kreager stays, a law enforcement source said.
The teens are scheduled for a hearing Jan. 4.
Since Kreager?s attack, there have been two other assaults on buses in Baltimore, including the stabbing of a teenage girl Tuesday during an altercation as middle school students road home near Mondawmin Mall, police said.
