By JOHN M. HOOBER III, Staff
Three young Lancaster males are in custody for last week's alleged robbery and baseball-bat beating of teenage boys near the East Petersburg Park.
Christian Rivera-Rodriguez, 18, of 229 Juniata St., and two 17-year-old boys have been arrested and charged with robbery, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy, Manheim Township police reported Monday.
Rodriguez is being held in Lancaster County Prison under $100,000 cash bail. The two 17-year-olds are in the Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center and will be charged as adults, police said.
A fourth suspect will be charged later, police said.
The charges are from an incident that happened at 6:50 p.m. July 27 near the park in the 6000 block of Pine Street in East Petersburg.
Police said the suspects approached five East Petersburg boys, ages 14 to 16, who were skateboarding. They demanded money from the youths, who started running, police said.
The suspects caught up with two of the fleeing boys and hit them with baseball bats, police said, and both victims required hospital treatment.
The robbers stole a cell phone and a small amount of money from the victims, police said.
Police said the attack on the East Petersburg boys was not a random incident, but rather a case of mistaken identity. The suspects mistakenly thought the East Petersburg boys were people they were looking for, investigators said.
In an unrelated incident, Lancaster police arrested two county men who allegedly entered a home in the 800 block of North Reservoir Street early Sunday morning and threatened a person with weapons.
Jeffrey M. Kautz, 26, of 1923 Shady Oak Drive, Mount Joy, and Carlton L. Armstrong, 23, of 118 Owl Hill Road, Apt. 4, Lititz, were arrested at the scene, according to a police report.
Kautz and Armstrong were intoxicated when they entered the home at about 1:40 a.m. Sunday and allegedly threatened an individual, police said.
Kautz allegedly had a bat, and Armstrong had a 20-gauge shotgun, police said.
Officer Jason Zahm charged Kautz and Armstrong with burglary, simple assault, possession of instruments of crime and public drunkenness, police said.
Neither man could post $250,000 cash bail on the the charges, and they were committed to Lancaster County Prison.
Also in Lancaster, a 56-year-old man reportedly was robbed late Saturday night at a location in the 200 block of North Queen Street.
The victim told police that a man approached him shortly before 11:30 p.m. and demanded money.
The robber reportedly had a silver revolver and fled after the victim surrendered his wallet.
The suspect was described as a Hispanic male, 20 to 30 years old, who was about 5-foot-8, weighed 130 pounds and wore a purple and white striped shirt.
n Staff writer John M. Hoober III can be reached at
jhoober@LNPnews.com or 481-6027.
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