A judge has dismissed charges against two young brothers, who police said were involved in an attack on several other people on the Walnut Street Bridge at the time of the Riverbend Festival.
General Sessions Court Judge Gary Starnes said there was no proof presented that Malik Lattimore, 19, and Mason Lattimore, 18, struck anyone during the June 14 incident around 11:30 p.m.
He said one of the victims told of pulling one of the brothers off her fiance, but he said she did not say she saw the brother hit him.
Five people told of the incident during a bench trial.
They said they had just left the VIP section at the festival where they had several drinks during an appearance by Flo Rida on the Coca Cola Stage. They said they then made their way up to the bridge to walk across to meet friends at the Big Chill on Frazier Avenue.
They said about the middle of the bridge a male who was with several females began taunting them and following them.
One witness said, "He was trying to instigate and pick a fight. He said some crude and profane things."
She said, "We kept trying not to get involved. We were saying we've got jobs and kids. We don't need to be involved in this."
However, when one of the men asked the man trying to provoke them what he said, a group of 12-15 people began to attack the two men in the group of five walking to the restaurant.
One woman said one of the men was pushed against the side of the bridge by a group, who were hitting him repeatedly. She said, "There was blood everywhere."
She said she jumped into the fray, trying to drag and kick them off of him.
The woman said she got on the phone to 911. "I was screaming for somebody to come help." She said several "homeless" people then tried to intervene. About that time, there were sirens and officers began arriving at the north end of the bridge. She said the attackers fled toward downtown.
Only the Lattimore brothers were picked up.
After the proof, prosecutor David Schmidt acknowledged there was inadequate proof against the defendants.