2 Held in Burbank Park Assaults : Boys Accused of Beating Homeless

Two 16-year-old boys were arrested Wednesday for what police said were apparently unprovoked, brutal beatings of two homeless men in a Burbank park, authorities said.

Neither the names of the boys, both of Burbank, nor the transients, who were hospitalized in critical condition, were disclosed. The boys were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Burbank Police Lt. Duane Dow said.

At least 10 bystanders witnessed the boys beating the transients in separate attacks several minutes apart, Dow said. The attacks occurred shortly after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night in McCambridge Park, at 1515 Glenoaks Blvd., he said.

Witnesses Call Police

The boys first approached a 32-year-old man in the south end of the park, near Amherst Drive, Dow said. Several witnesses saw them beating the man and called police, he said.

As police were on the way, the boys attacked a 45-year-old man in the north end of the park near Andover Drive, the lieutenant said. A group of seven to eight men in the park saw that beating and broke it up, Dow said, and the boys wandered away, leaving the homeless man lying on the ground.

The man apparently staggered to his feet and walked about 100 yards to the sidewalk to Andover Drive, where detectives suspect he was beaten again by the boys, this time with a bottle that was found nearby, Dow said. A resident who saw the man unconscious on the sidewalk called paramedics, he said.

Dow said he had “no idea” of the motive for the attacks.

Known to Police

The 32-year-old victim was being treated at Burbank Community Hospital. The other was at St. Joseph Medical Center. Both were known to police as homeless men who had walked the streets and parks of Burbank for at least five years, Dow said.

“It appears they were selected because of their low station in life,” Dow said.

The witnesses provided a police artist with the composite sketches of the attackers that were used to track down the two boys arrested Wednesday morning, Dow said.

Each boy lives within half a mile of the park, the lieutenant said. He would not comment on the statements the boys have made to investigators.

The boys were being held in Sylmar Juvenile Hall pending a hearing later this week, Dow said.