San Leandro police are creating a task force to tackle recent cases of “wilding,” robberies and other attacks said to be committed by large groups of people, including an incident in which a group briefly tried to take a car with a 2-year-old child inside, officials said.

Police said there have been at least three incidents in the city over the past month in which mobs of assailants have targeted victims for their cell phones, electronics, expensive sneakers and other property.

On Monday, a middle school student holding a bag that contained Nike shoes was pistol-whipped and temporarily left unconscious on the 2100 block of East 14th Street, while a second victim was also knocked to the ground and robbed of his iPhone and Nike shoes, said San Leandro police Lt. Rick DeCosta.

About 40 minutes later, a sergeant witnessed the end of an altercation in which a large group of teens had surrounded a car with two adults and a 2-year-old child inside and blocked them from entering a parking lot. When the victims asked the group to move, they yelled obscenities and told them to “go around.”

The adults got out of the car — leaving the child in the car — and were again confronted, with a teenager throwing a metal chair, nearly striking one of the victims. Other youths then began ransacking the passenger compartment of the car, stealing a computer tablet and iPhone, and one teen got into the driver’s seat, put the car into gear and began driving off.

“The victims yelled out at the teenager, pleading with him to stop because the child was still in the car,” DeCosta said. “The teenager stopped the car, which was just prior to the police showing up.” Two teens were arrested for a variety of offenses, including assault with a deadly weapon, carjacking, kidnapping and child endangerment.

Last Saturday, two juveniles were confronted near the Bayfair Mall by a large group of young people who challenged them to fight, surrounded them and chased them before robbing one of them of his Nike shoes and his cell phone.

“We know that it is normal for young adults to gather in groups, and we are not discouraging that,” police said in a statement. “However, it is not acceptable that they commit crimes of intimidation and other acts of violence.”

Police from several agencies were to meet Friday to form a task force.

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