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By Sarah Hutchins The Virginian-Pilot May 4, 2012 NORFOLK A 16-year-old has been arrested in connection with an attack on twoVirginian-Pilot reporters last month. The teen, whose name is not being released because of his age, hasbeen charged with throwing a missile at a vehicle, a felony, aswell as two counts of simple assault by mob, destruction ofproperty and participation in a riot, all misdemeanors. He is incustody. The incident happened shortly after 11 p.m. April 14 at theintersection of Brambleton Avenue and Church Street. Dave Forsterand Marjon Rostami had left the Attucks Theatre after attending aconcert and were stopped at a red light. A police report says thata rock was thrown at their car as a large group was passing, andthat when Forster got out to confront the person, he was attackedby several people. Rostami also was assaulted. Their injuries wereminor. Rostami estimated the crowd to be around 100 and said 30 or so werein close vicinity to their car. Forster said he could not say howmany people hit him. Information about the assault was first reported in aVirginian-Pilot opinion column on Tuesday, two weeks after theattack. The paper received national attention for its decision notto cover the attack as a news story. Pilot Editor Denis Finleyaddressed the decision in a front-page column published Thursday. At a news conference Thursday, interim Norfolk Police Chief SharonChamberlin maintained the department's stance that the case is notbeing investigated as a hate crime. Forster and Rostami are whiteand said the assailants are black. "At no time in our investigation or in statements taken fromthe victims did it appear this assault was raciallymotivated," the chief said. Chamberlin added that police believe only a few people wereinvolved in the attack. "It is important to clarify that 30 people did not carry outthe assault," she said. "There was a large group in thevicinity, but our investigation and the statements of the victimsshow that no more than a handful of people were involved." Three entertainment venues - The NorVa, Scope and the AttucksTheatre - all had events that let out around the same time thenight of the assault, she said. "This is a situation where you had a whole bunch of events letout all at once, you had a lot of people on the street, you had anassault occur and that was isolated with a small number ofpeople," Chamberlin said. "The streets of Norfolk aresafe. We are a vibrant city, we are growing, we are changing eachand every day, and citizens should not judge our streets in lightof this particular thing." Police said their investigation continues. Sarah Hutchins, 757-222-5131, sarah.hutchins@pilotonline.com. I am an expert from bottle-fillingmachine.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Bottle Labeling Machine , Bottle Blowing Machine Manufacturer, Water Filling Machines,and more.
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