CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A second man has been charged with beating and robbing a man last month in River North in an attack that was captured on video.
The charges were announced against Mekiel Hampton Thursday morning — just hours after a man was shot and several other people were robbed in a series of overnight armed attacks in the downtown neighborhood.
Hampton, 19, beat and robbed a 40-year-old man early Aug. 28 in the 400 block of North State Street, police said.
Video of the beating, first posted by the crime news website CWB Chicago, shows three men beating up another man as traffic crawls past. Another man walks by and is sucker-punched and falls to the pavement.
Women danced in the street while others stole the victim's' shoes, bags and other items. Police were criticized for taking six minutes to respond to the incident.
Brandon Jefferson, 33, was charged in the same attack last week.
Hampton is also charged in another robbery later that day, just blocks north of the attack. Police said Hampton and two others punched, kicked and robbed a 54-year-old man at 1 p.m. in the 600 block of North State Street. The victim was taken to a hospital for his injuries.
Hampton was arrested Tuesday in Englewood, where he lives, police said. He was expected to appear in court later Thursday.
Police said they have responded to a recent uptick in crime in River North, known for its nightlife, by allocating more officers to the district. But police declined to say how many more officers are being deployed during the monthly meeting of Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) for the 18th District.
Shootings in the district have increased this year by 21 percent, up from 24 to 29. Sexual assaults and motor vehicle thefts are on the rise, too, records show.
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