Man attacked and beaten in Fan District robbery - NBC12 - WWBT - Richmond, VA News On Your Side

Man attacked and beaten in Fan District robbery

By Gene Petriello - bio | email

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - Richmond Police are on the hunt for three men they say robbed someone in the Fan District on Wednesday evening.

A scary evening for one man in the Fan, as he was attacked and beaten by three other men right on the street. But, one person living in this neighborhood says the crime here comes with the territory.

Walking her dog Rockstar, Janet Hutchinson is the self-proclaimed empress of the neighborhood watch. "It's awful that people get hurt that way but you have to be alert when walking in the city."

Richmond Police say a man was walking on the street -- when three other men came up to him. One of those men hit the victim in the head, punched him several times and the victim was even knocked to the ground.

The three men ran off, with the victim's wallet.

"I've lived here for 17 years and these kinds of things happen on occasion," added Janet.
"Maliciousness. I don't know. But, it's living in the city. If you live in the city, you take certain risks."

It's those risks that many hope don't happen to them. Especially since this crime happened in a very busy area, near a restaurant and very close to a playground.

"No, we don't want crime in the area. But I think it think it's a fact of life here," Janet said.

It's one fact of life Virginia Commonwealth University Senior LeAn Tran has avoided so far. She hopes that continues for her last semester at VCU. She's taking some steps to make that happen. "Change my routes and lowering down the volume in my iPod."

"When I walk late at night, the stores are open and people are around. That's the kind of precautions you want. Just common sense," added Janet.

Janet says her neighbors are happy and that common sense helps them keep alert all the time.

If you have any information about this robbery, call CrimesStoppers at 780-1000. You can also send a text message crime tip to iTip. That number is 274637.

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