Investigators with the Columbus Police Department say they have located the suspects in an alleged robbery at Walmart and have no plans to file any charges against them.
Two suspects who are shown beating a man and stealing money from his wallet in a video CPD released to media Thursday turned themselves in to police early Friday, according to a press release from CPD.
The suspects are a mother and son, according to Columbus Public Information Officer Joe Dillon. They told investigators the victim had sold them defective merchandise, and when they complained, the victim gave them a refund with alleged counterfeit cash, the press release said. They had arranged the business deal through Facebook, and the victim stopped communicating with the suspects after the refund.
The suspects told police they happened upon the victim in Walmart Wednesday night and confronted him to get their money back.
The surveillance video released shows a man beating the victim while a woman takes money from the wallet the victim had apparently dropped in the altercation.
However the victim is not cooperating with police and has not shown interest in pressing charges, CPD Capt. Brent Swan said.
“We don’t have much of a case right now to prosecute,” he said.
Swan added that the suspects in the case had pressed charges against the victim at the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office for giving them counterfeit money.
An earlier press release on the incident reported police were searching for three suspects, including a woman who had approached the victim to ask about a video game right before the altercation. Authorities now say that woman was just a witness, Dillon said.
The earlier press release also said the incident occurred Thursday night, when it actually happened Wednesday, the new press release said.
District Attorney Scott Colom did not comment on the specifics of the case but said that generally citizens should not “take the law into their own hands,” the press release said.
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