With a television news camera rolling, the 16-year-old boy quietly recounted an incident in which he said about 15 other teens kicked and punched him at the Inner Harbor, in broad daylight, while he waited for a bus. His head was swollen, his hands cut and his school uniform bloodied - another apparent attack by teens in the downtown area.
But police now believe that the boy was a willing participant in a gang initiation ceremony, saying he confessed after a review of surveillance camera footage showed no evidence of an attack.
The disclosure Friday came as the boy's father accused police of coercing a confession out of the boy, a student at the National Academy Foundation School in Federal Hill's Digital Harbor complex. James Robinson said his son insists that police pressured him to say the incident was gang-related.
"They're trying to sweep this under the rug as a gang-related issue, as if it's no big deal," said Robinson, whose family lives in the New Northwood community. "Yes, it is a big deal. For my son, this is insult to injury."
Police were called at 1:45 p.m. Tuesday to North Calvert and East Baltimore streets by the boy's father, who had received a phone call from his son saying he had been jumped. Though the boy says he was attacked near the Maryland Science Center, a police officer reported the downtown intersection, more than half a mile away, as the location of the beating.
The intersection is three blocks north of the Inner Harbor, where police have been trying to assuage concerns after a series of recently publicized attacks on residents and tourists involving large groups of young people.
Police, concerned that the officer might have been trying to play down Inner Harbor crime, started reviewing surveillance camera footage from the area to pinpoint the attack. But after looking at tapes, they couldn't find the incident at all.
On Tuesday, Robinson contacted WJZ-13, and his son's story aired on the evening news and in Wednesday's Baltimore Sun.
Police asked the boy to come downtown to tell his story again, and that's when they say he acknowledged that it was part of a gang initiation.
Robinson said he and his son were asked to speak with police to review footage and pictures to identify suspects. He said he allowed the boy to speak with detectives alone. After about 45 minutes, Robinson said, he was taken to see his son.
