Three arrested in St. Paul LRT station attack

Police have arrested three teenagers following an attack on a woman on a St. Paul train platform.

The incident came to light in a video posted on social media, which drew national attention Wednesday. It showed at least two young men approaching a woman at the Dale Street light rail station. One of the young men kicked the woman in the head before the video ended.

Metro Transit spokesperson Howie Padilla said the apparently random attack was never reported, so it took a lengthy investigation to track down where and when it happened. Trains were not running at the time, early Monday morning.

“Our cameras on our platforms are high quality. We were able to get some good video, some good images, and able to quickly identify our suspects,” he said. 

Padilla said the video helped transit police track down the suspected assailants from the attack.

“We’re still working on identifying the victim. That’s one of the final pieces we want is to be able to talk to this victim,” Padilla said.

The woman appears to be Asian American. The incident comes as Asian Americans in Minnesota and across the country are reporting racially motivated attacks during the spread of the novel coronavirus, which was reported to have originated in China. Authorities are still investigating if the attack may have been racially motivated.

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