‘Totally unprovoked’: Boise police investigate reports of teens attacking people downtown

Boise police are investigating at least three incidents involving juvenile suspects attacking people downtown at night.

On Oct. 14, shortly after 11 p.m., police responded to a reported battery near 8th and Front streets, according to Boise Police Department spokesperson Haley Kramer. A group of about 15 teenagers had targeted a group of four adults.

Sean Doyle, one of the victims, told the Idaho Statesman that he had gone to a downtown bar with three friends that night to watch an Idaho Steelheads game. On the way back to his car, a group began threatening to fight the four people, he said.

Accompanied by his girlfriend, a co-worker and his roommate, Doyle said he kept walking toward the car and dismissed the aggressive comments, but the teenagers kept following them.

“We told them we didn’t want any trouble,” Doyle said in a phone interview. “Then one of them came up from behind and sucker-punched my roommate.”

Doyle said about four people punched and kicked his roommate, who then “curled up in a ball” to avoid injury. Doyle said he was getting hit after trying to protect his co-worker, who was also attacked.

“I went over to help my co-worker and received about five or six punches,” Doyle said. “I turned to help him but someone snuck up from behind and punched him. He fell to the ground and was unconscious for about a minute.”

Doyle said his co-worker is partially paralyzed from a previous stroke and was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries, including a broken jaw and two broken teeth.

Doyle and his roommate sustained minor injuries, according to the Boise Police Department. Doyle said his girlfriend was not targeted and intervened to try to stop it. After she intervened, the teenagers ran off in separate directions, he said.

“It was totally unprovoked,” Doyle said. “I had never seen them in my life.”

Kramer said the department’s Violent Crimes Unit and School Resource Officers group are working together to try to identify possible suspects.

“The public needs to know,” Doyle said. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

Reports of similar incidents

One underage person was arrested Tuesday on charges related to a similar incident that took place early in the morning on Oct. 2, Kramer told the Statesman. Boise police responded to a report of teenagers trying to attack an adult male in a parking garage in the 400 block of Capitol Boulevard.

“One of the suspects pointed what looked to be a black handgun at the victim, which was later determined to be a replica toy gun,” she said in an email. “The group of young teens then began hitting the victim’s truck with their hands and one of the suspects kicked the passenger door of the victim’s truck, causing damage.”

In a third incident, Kramer said police responded to the 800 block of Main Street on Monday after a report of teenagers punching a group of people. The victims chose not to pursue charges, Kramer said, but detectives are working to determine if all of the attacks are related.

Since the incidents involve suspects who are all believed to be younger than 18, authorities cannot disclose information on their identity.

The Boise Police Department asks victims or anyone with information about such downtown attacks to contact Ada County Dispatch at 208-377-6790.