Police say they’re investigating a report that more than two dozen juveniles assaulted a man and then stole his belongings after he got off a Metro A Line train near Downtown Long Beach Tuesday afternoon.
The attack happened just before 1 p.m. at the Metro platform along Long Beach Boulevard at Anaheim Street, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
The man was on the platform when roughly 30 juveniles started assaulting him before stealing his belongings and running away, police said.
Officers responded to the area for a report but were unable to locate any of the juveniles, police said.
The man attacked by the group, who asked to be identified only as Alex for fear of retaliation, said he was on the train after trying to register for classes at Long Beach City College.
He said he’d noticed a group of about 30 kids antagonizing people aboard the train. Alex said that when the train came to a stop at the platform two kids blocked him from getting off.
He said he asked them to get out of his way, but they wouldn’t, so he pushed one of them to make a path for himself.
As he made his way past them and across the platform, about 30 kids started running toward him trying to fight him, he said.
“It’s not something I wanted to do,” Alex said. “But otherwise they would’ve hurt me.”
The fight spilled onto the street and sidewalks before Alex scurried back onto the platform, he said.
Some kids followed him and then pushed him onto the Metro train tracks, he said. During the fight, the mob of kids stole his book bag, which had his cell phone and other personal belongings, before running away, he said.
Alex didn’t have any visible injuries but said he was in shock.
“It makes me sick,” he said.
The incident comes as Metro has expressed some frustration with the police agencies contracted to patrol its trains.
Increased reports of crimes and complaints that officers and deputies may not be providing a presence at platforms, buses, and trains have even led some members of the Metro board to call for the agency to consider creating its own police force.