Warning: video contains explicit content
All of the teens who were caught on video tormenting a homeless man in Pompano Beach in 2008 are now in jail, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Department. Nineteen-year-old William Sleight, 19-year-old Brandon Edwards, 19-year-old Nicholas Bakum and 21-year-old Bradley Wunderlich are all charged for their parts in the crime.
All of the men are in jail with Sleight and Edwards being held without bail. Wunderlich was already in jail at the BSO North Broward Bureau since September 29. BSO said an anonymous tip led them to Wunderlich.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said he wants to see Florida add the homeless as a protected group under the state’s hate crime law.
“We have seen this before. Teenagers beating up homeless people for no reason,” Lamberti said.
The video was posted to YouTube and detectives uncovered it during an investigation into the fatal beating of Craig Cohen in Ft. Lauderdale last April. In the video, three teens are seen pushing over the victim, cornering him, smacking him in the head and face and carrying him down a street before dropping him.
The teens are heard laughing at the man as he asks them to leave him alone. The incident occurred at 501 S. Ocean Drive. Broward Sheriff’s Office Spokesperson Dani Moschella explained that the teens will be charged with kidnapping because the victim could not get away. The teens will also be charged with misdemeanor battery.
In one section of the video, one of the teens asks the man with the camera phone, “You got this?” referring to the video. The man with the cell phone replies, “I got everything, bro.”
The victim was not hurt in the attack and did not report it to police. It came to light, detectives say, because one of the men in the video — Brandon Edwards — was a suspect in the Cohen beating. Edwards was not charged in the Cohen attack.
If you have any information on the identity of the 4th person, call Broward County Crimestoppers at 954-493-TIPS.