WREG.com

Series of Robberies at Tom Lee Park

(Memphis) Tom Lee Park on the downtown riverfront is one of the first impressions most people have of Memphis.

Now there is a a warning for anyone who enjoys the park.

Every day since Friday, someone’s been robbed there and it doesn’t matter if it’s day or night.

“We need to at least warn people that this is going on in the park,” said Memphis Resident Floyd Lofton.

Good Samaritan Floyd Lofton says he was headed to dinner around 8:30 p.m. Friday night when he came across a mob jumping onto helpless victims, a couple, walking at Tom Lee Park, “After the gang ran off, I went over there and they were both still on the ground and the guy was bleeding really bad out of his nose and mouth.”

Police say in that attack, the group of robbers took the man’s cell phone and wallet.

“They were trying to take her purse but she had balled herself up around her bag so they didn’t get it,” said Lofton.

The man had to be rushed to the hospital.

Then Saturday at around 10:30 p.m. it was the same situation, different victims.

This time, the robbers attacked two people and got away with a $600 iPhone.

Sunday at 2 p.m., two people were mugged again and said the robbers got away with about $400 in cash.

“After talking to the police officer that was there, he said that they run in large gangs because when they attack you can`t really identify who did this because there is so many of them and that is exactly what I saw,” said Lofton.  “It was just unreal.”

Police say because of these robberies, they’ve stepped up patrols at Tom Lee Park.

So far, they have one person in custody, Marcellos Anderson, 19, who they say took part in a mob-style robbery at Tom Lee Park back in March.