AUBURN — Three juveniles were arrested Sunday based on video showing two homeless people being assaulted, according to police.
Officers responded Sunday morning to Hutchins Street, near Moulton Park, for a welfare check of a woman who is reportedly homeless and suffering with mental illness and a man believed to be homeless, according to Timothy Cougle, deputy chief of the Auburn Police Department.
The woman and man appeared to have been assaulted, although they were unwilling to give Auburn police any information, Cougle said.
On Sunday afternoon, Auburn police learned of a video circulating on social media reportedly showing two female juveniles assaulting two people at Moulton Park. Officers learned the two victims in the video were the same individuals from the welfare check earlier in the day, according to Cougle.
Two of the telephone calls reporting the attacks to police were from the mothers of two teens responsible for the alleged attacks, according to Cougle.
Officers again located the alleged victims, and although they refused to provide information, further investigation led police to identify a third person — a 15-year-old male — who reportedly videotaped the assaults.
The names of those involved in the alleged attacks were not released Sunday because they are not adults, Cougle said.
The three juveniles were taken into custody, police said. Two girls, ages 14 and 16, have been charged with Class B aggravated assault.
The male who recorded the alleged assaults was charged with criminal conspiracy to commit an aggravated assault, a Class C offense.
A 14-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy were released Sunday to their parents on bail contracts, while the 16-year-old girl was being held at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, police said.
“The Auburn Police Department is aware of similar videos that have now surfaced as a result of this investigation, which were not previously reported to police,” Cougle said, adding Auburn police would investigate all attacks and seek criminal charges against anyone involved.
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