Four Arrested After Video Shows Lynching in Copacabana

Overview

• Police say a group confronted and violently beat a man accused of stealing a bicycle in Copacabana and he later died in hospital from traumatic brain injury and internal bleeding.
• Two private security guards and two delivery workers have been detained and three of them have confessed while one of the delivery workers remained silent in his statement to investigators.
• Multiple videos show delivery riders filming and accusing the victim before the assault and a separate security camera records an unidentified man in a gray coat arriving from a car and kicking the victim, and police are working to identify him.
• Investigators are using street CCTV and witness testimony to reconstruct the sequence at a convenience store and on nearby steps and they are also probing possible omission of aid by bystanders and irregular private security hired by local merchants.
• Authorities say the inquiry could lead to further charges against additional participants and witnesses and officials expect to complete key parts of the investigation in the coming days.