UPDATE: Newark police: Violence may have been chief motivation in brutal Prudential Center assaults

NEWARK — A roving band of teenagers assaulted five people as they left a sold-out concert at Newark's Prudential Center Saturday night, leaving one man unconscious and another with a fractured eye socket during a two-minute crime spree, according to police officials and incident reports.

The attacks happened as nearly 20,000 guests departed from a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert and marked only the second major reported crime at the arena since it opened in 2007, officials said.

When it was all over, three teenagers and two adults had been beaten and robbed along Broad Street between Market and Lafayette Streets, according to the police reports. One victim, a 23-year-old Pennsylvania man, suffered a fractured eye socket and needed 12 stitches to close wounds to his lip and eyebrow, the reports said.

The same group attacked a father and son from Morris County, stealing their cell phones and the older man’s wallet. The teens cornered the 14-year-old boy and repeatedly punched and kicked him, the reports said. A cab driver and parking attendant intervened and helped the boy, who then discovered his father unconscious and bleeding nearby, according to the reports.

The same group of thieves, described by Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio as a band of 10 or 15 "thugs," assaulted and robbed two Livingston teenagers, according to the reports.

"It’s so unfortunate that this one group of kids can cause something like this to happen," DeMaio said. "It’s sad."

The victims and Mayor Cory Booker declined to comment.

DeMaio said all three robberies were likely committed by the same group of teenagers. Police did recover a video of the attack, which shows the teens racing along Broad Street throwing fists and feet.

"It’s a group that’s moving very rapidly, they come through, they’re hitting, taking stuff, continuing on and running," he said.

The scene was apparently so out of control that commanders at the 3rd Precinct issued a "citywide alert" for assistance, according to the reports.

No suspects have been identified, but DeMaio said officers are examining links to other robberies committed by juveniles in the area.

The attacks came less than a month after the city reduced the number of officers patrolling the arena from 20 to 14, but DeMaio said there were 23 cops assigned to the Prudential Center on Saturday. The victims were attacked in what amounts to a blind spot, DeMaio said. Guests usually walk toward Newark Penn Station or Mulberry Street after events, so officers patrol those areas, more heavily, he said.

DeMaio said the attacks were only the second major crime connected to the arena since it opened in 2007. A gay couple was attacked during what many termed a hate crime after a Britney Spears concert in 2009, but nobody was seriously injured.

Arena officials called the attacks an isolated incident.

"After nearly 8 million fans have walked through our doors, Prudential Center and our neighborhood have an exemplary safety record because the Newark Police Department does such a good job," said arena spokesman Bob Sommer. "We wish our fans who were involved a very speedy recovery."

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