Four men charged in connection with a Center City flash mob incident last week will have to wait for their day in court.
Scheduled to appear were 18-year-olds Miles Mebane, Zameer Waliyud-Din, Tasgene West, and 20-year-old Tyrone Joseph. Mebane and Joseph remained police custody Tuesday while West and Waliyud-Din were out on bail.
It was originally reported that one of the men failed to appear at a scheduled preliminary hearing on Tuesday. In reality one of the defendant's lawyers wasn't able to make it because of a medical emergency, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
A suspect was also late to the hearing but that was after it was already continued and no bench warrants were issued, said the D.A.'s office.
It wasn’t made clear which man was late to court.
The men face aggravated assault, simple assault, riot, criminal conspiracy and other related offenses for the alleged roles in a flash mob where a large group of young people swarmed the area of City Hall at Broad and Chestnut streets around 4 p.m. on March 2.
Police arrested and charged 23 people. The D.A.’s office charged 19 juveniles and four adults.
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“This group of teens and young adults represented a real danger to the community,” District Attorney Seth Williams said. “I hope the seriousness of these charges sends a message that these reckless actions will not be tolerated in the city.”
The 19 juveniles were being held at different juvenile detention centers until March 11 when they are scheduled to appear at Family Court.
