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Dozens Arrested In String Of Violent Robberies

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Nov 20, 2009 8:21 pm US/Mountain

Dozens Arrested In String Of Violent Robberies

Reporting
Raj Chohan

DENVER (CBS4) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman announces dozens of arrests in a string of violent robberies Nov. 20, 2009.
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More than 30 men have been arrested in connection with a string of violent robberies in and around downtown Denver. Investigators said most of the victims were young white and hispanic men.

The four-month investigation led to 32 arrests in a bizarre series of attacks and robberies in Lodo. Police said while the suspects were motivated by robbery, they allegedly targeted their victims based on race.

"During these crimes, the suspects were identified as a group of young black males, would confront the victim, who was usually a lone white male, and engage in some sort of verbal threat to them," said Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman.

The robberies would often involve a swarm of attackers, a blow to the head, and seething racial remarks. In a few cases, the targets were women.

One victim, who did not want to be identified, told CBS4 she had been robbed and sexually assaulted. "While they were beating me, they spit on me. They said 'white people deserve this. You're a white girl, you want this.'"

Denver Police, the District Attorney and the FBI put together a task force. Undercover officers blended into crowds and investigators blanketed lower downtown with surveillance.

"We put officers in the crowd, in plain clothes, in uniform, in the air, on buildings. We did surveillance, followed people," said Chief Whitman.

After months of work, police identified 35 people from two violent street gangs. On Thursday, they rounded up 32 of them. Denver Police are still searching for three people.

The charge of a bias-motivated crime is a felony in which the penalities can be more severe when there is bodily injury or more than one person involved in the attack.

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