Third teenager charged in Lake Phalen beating

Chief John Harrington
Police Chief John Harrington says that recent crimes in the Lake Phalen area has left him wondering if youth violence crime is on the rise.
MPR Photo/Laura Yuen

A third teenager has been charged in Monday's baseball-bat attack at Lake Phalen in St. Paul.

Ramsey County Attorney's office charged sixteen-year-old Michal Yang of St. Paul with assault and committing a crime for the benefit of a gang.

A man who was beaten at the scene told police that Yang was encouraging another teen to strike him with the bat. Both the man and his wife were beaten while walking around the lake.

Prosecutors are asking that Yang be tried as an adult.

Four other people have been arrested in connection with the attack. Two of them have been released pending further investigation.

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