DAVIS, Calif — A man and four minors were arrested in connection to a series of attacks on people in Davis.
“It really speaks to our cooperation with the community and being able to get a lot of this video surveillance and all the folks that we stop that we spoke to the night of the incident that were able to provide information that helped us investigate this case,” said Lt. Dan Beckwith, spokesperson for Davis Police Department.
Many of those arrested were involved in a March 29 attack on two people in downtown Davis, near the intersection of 2nd Street and F Street.
Police said the attack involved five to six suspects, some of who wore masks. They allegedly approached the victims and attacked unprovoked. One of the victims was severely hurt.
Following the attack, police gathered surveillance video from the area that showed the attack and ultimately led to pictures of the suspects and a license plate for the car they used to leave the city.
The investigation continued for months, but eventually, six people were identified in the attack: 21-year-old Mark Anthony Benard Jr. of Dixon, 18-year-old Jailen Marsean Samuel Lankford of Dixon, and four minors, whose names can't be released by police due to state law.
However, the investigation led to a video of three unreported attacks that involved the same suspects from the March attack.
One attack happened on Jan. 4 at a city parking garage on 101 F Street. At least one person was attacked near the elevator. The next one happened on March 23. Benard and two minors allegedly attacked a man on the 500 block of L Street and later attacked two men near the same elevator as the January attack.
“This definitely is a strange series of incidents and we were actually quite shocked when we uncovered the video evidence of those other attacks,” Beckwith said.
Police said all of the unreported attacks were unprovoked and targeted homeless people in Davis. None of the victims were seriously injured. The victims in the March 29 attack were not homeless.
Beckwith said the busts show that crimes toward the unhoused community don't go unnoticed.
“I think it's important to know that each and every one of these crimes is important to us as a police department and the service that we give to our community. And on a deeper note... it really gives a voice, and a message, that we want to give folks a voice who might feel like they don't have one and (feel) that their their crime is less important or something like that. We take each of these cases extremely seriously,” Beckwith said.
Three of the minors were ultimately arrested for conspiracy and assault-related charges. They were booked and released on notices to appear. Exact ages weren't provided, but they were described as teenagers.
A 15-year-old minor was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy, battery, assault with a deadly weapon and assault resulting in great bodily injury. He was booked at the county juvenile detention facility.
Benard Jr. was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy, battery, assault with a deadly weapon and grand theft. He was booked into the county jail.
Jailen Marsean Samuel Lankford is still wanted for his alleged involvement in the March crime.
Anyone with information can call Davis police.
WATCH ALSO:
