9-year-old boy attacked, robbed while riding bike to school in Pasadena


PASADENA >> Police are seeking a man who punched and robbed a 9-year-old boy as he rode his bicycle to school on Thursday, officials said.
The crime took place about 7 a.m. Thursday, but the frightened boy did not tell his mother what had happened until Friday afternoon, Pasadena police Lt. John Mercado said. The mother notified police.
Mercado said the boy was riding his bike at Madison Avenue and Orange Grove Boulevard when the robber, estimated to be 17 or 18 years old, approached, the lieutenant said.
“The suspect confronted the victim and demanded the victim’s lunch money,” Mercado said. “When the victim refused, he was punched in the face.”
The boy was dazed by the blow, Mercado said. When he gathered himself, he found his backpack ad been ransacked and his belongings were strewn about the floor. The boy was unsure what items had been stolen.
The boy rushed to school but did not report the robbery out of fear, Mercado said. When his mother asked him about his swollen eye, he told her he had fallen off his bicycle.
But the mother noticed the black eye got worse the following day and again questioned her son about the injury, Mercado said. The boy then told his mother about the attack and robbery.
Police described the robber as a black man of about 17 or 18 years old, of average height and build, clean-shaven, with a long Afro-style hair combed to the side. He wore a gray hooded sweatshirt and gray shorts, as well as a long silver chain around his neck.

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