Police arrested an 18-year-old from Angoon on assault and robbery charges Tuesday after a man said a group of people attacked him last week in downtown Juneau, according to the Juneau Police Department.
The 41-year-old Juneau man told a police officer around 2:30 a.m. on June 6 that he was assaulted and robbed on Franklin Street, near the Alaskan Hotel and Bar. The man's face was bloody and his clothes were torn, said Tuesday's statement from police.
Police contacted several suspects within the next 10 minutes, said Erann Kalwara, a police department spokeswoman. A police investigation determined that someone yelled "inappropriate comments" toward the man, the man responded and then several people hit him on the head and put him in a "choke hold," the statement said.
Kalwara did not respond to a question about what the group said. She said she could not answer questions about the group's motive.
Around 4 a.m. Tuesday, police arrested Bobby Paul of Angoon. He was charged with second-degree assault and second-degree robbery, both felonies, according to the police statement. The statement said four other men and one woman were also identified as suspects. Police have not yet released their names.
Kalwara said police believe alcohol was a factor in the reported assault and robbery.
The Juneau Empire reported that the Juneau man injured, Wesley Johnson, worked at the Alaskan Hotel and Bar and went outside on June 6 to smoke a cigarette. Johnson and five other people he knows spoke out against downtown violence at a recent Juneau assembly meeting, asking officials to take action, the Juneau newspaper reported.
Paul was in custody Tuesday at the Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau.