Angry Mob Pelts Pueblo Man Thought to Be Sex Attacker
Ex-Suspect Was 'in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time,' Say Police
An angry Colorado mob was searching for a man thought to have committed several sexual assaults. They confronted a man fitting the description and proceeded to beat him before police arrived.
Some of the residents of Pueblo were upset over that fact that local police had not warned them about several sex assaults of children and a group was formed to begin searching the area.
A man fitting the description of the suspect was spotted by the group, and when the man was confronted, he ran and was then chased down. The group caught up to the man and began hitting him with rocks and striking him in the face, Alex Pacheco, one of the members of the group, told the Associated Press.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Officers arrived shortly after and placed the suspect in custody with the man not having sustained any serious injuries, police Capt. Tom Rummel told The Pueblo Chieftain.
Pueblo police later released the man because of lack of evidence. The group had less than a dozen people who were frustrated with the police response to the situation.
"We went through the right channels in contacting the police but there hasn't been much response," Pacheco told AP. "We can't wait around any longer without doing something. These are children that this man is after and we can't let any more children get hurt by him."
Rummel said police had been notified because there had been no arrests made, but did place flyers and updates on social media.
The man beaten by the group did not want to press charges against his pursuers and provided police with a DNA sample so that he could be ruled out as a suspect.
"He said folks were reacting to a bad situation and he told the officer, 'I don't want to go that route,'" Rummel said. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
