Court hearings loom for four teens charged in party bus robbery, attack

Three teenagers face their first court appearances later this week in connection with a robbery and beating on a party bus earlier this month, authorities said Monday.

Four boys, ages 17, 16, 16 and 14, are accused of boarding a party bus at about 10 p.m. on Sept. 5 at the intersection of Castle and Whittier and taking cellphones, wallets and money from four of 11 people on the bus, Lt. James Espinoza said. That’s near Lincoln and Rock Road in southeast Wichita.

One of the four robbers was brandishing a shotgun, Espinoza said. The quartet then attacked and beat the 33-year-old bus driver, who was knocked out and later taken to Via Christi Hospital St. Francis with “numerous fractures to his face,” Espinoza said. He also sustained a broken nose, a police report on the incident said.

One of the 16-year-old suspects, along with the 14-year-old and the 17-year-old, are slated to make their initial appearances in juvenile court on Thursday, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office. The second 16-year-old is slated to make his initial appearance in juvenile court on Sept. 26.

A decision on whether to try any of the suspects as an adult has not yet been made, said Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.

All four of the suspects are charged with four counts of aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated battery, Dillon said. All of the riders on the party bus were juveniles, Espinoza said.

It’s not clear whether the suspects knew the victims on the bus, he said.

This story was originally published September 15, 2014 at 3:25 PM with the headline "Court hearings loom for four teens charged in party bus robbery, attack."