‘I thought he was going to die’ Man beaten in seemingly random attack in Downtown St. Louis
A 31-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection to the assault
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - An arrest has been made after a man was beaten on a MetroLink train on May 29.
Antoine Robertston, 31, has been arrested and charged in connection to an assault on a MetroLink train at the 8th and Pine station on May 29 with two victims and an assault that happened on a MetroLink train at the Laclede’s Landing station on May 30 with one victim. Robertson has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault, one count of third-degree assault, one count of fourth-degree assault and two counts of trespassing, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
According to a probable cause statement, Robertston was banned from all Metro Bi-State property, and the assaults were caught on surveillance video.
A Glen Carbon couple had planned to have a fun night in downtown St. Louis before the brutal and random beating turned the evening into a nightmare.
“I thought he was going to die because they kept stomping on his head so hard,” said Deyona Kunselman.
Deyona and Lee Kunselman are still mentally and physically recovering from an attack at a MetroLink stop at 8th and Pine on Memorial Day.
They said they continue to ask themselves what they did wrong.
“I feel naïve and stupid now and I think we both do,” said Deyona.
The Kunselmans were enjoying a night out with friends at the Casino Queen casino in Illinois. They then hopped on the MetroLink and headed to Downtown St. Louis to sing karaoke.
An unextraordinary night until the train stopped and the doors opened.
“He shoved me so hard he almost shoved me off my feet. But he shoved me and said get off me and as soon as he did that, then they all jumped in and started pouncing on me,” said Lee Kunselman.
“We couldn’t do anything other than yell stop, stop, stop. And they didn’t until they did,” said Deyona.
Lee suffered a concussion and needed at least 12 stitches to reattach his eyelid.
Metro said suspects were waiting on the train with the couple and one suspect has been identified.
Deyona told News 4 Thursday - they’re told by St. Louis Metropolitan Police that four suspects have been identified.
After the beating, they don’t want to go back to the city they love anytime soon
“I think it’s just traumatized us right now, maybe later but right now, no,” Deyona.
When News 4 reached out to Metro about the incident Wednesday night, top security brass and the communications team were unaware of what happened.
A Metro spokesperson told News 4 Thursday night that other employees began working with police on Tuesday.
So not everyone knew of an extremely brutal attack on the MetroLink.
Thursday they officially confirmed it, and said they’re working with police and handing over any video surveillance they have of the beating.
News 4 reached out to multiple members of the Board of Aldermen, Alderwoman Shaheem Clark Hubbard, who serves on the public safety committee, said Police and Metro need to be able to communicate effectively when violence occurs on the Metro.
“I think we need to identify where this happened, where the ball was dropped, where the gap is in communication with our public safety departments here and fill that gap quickly especially as we lead up into the summer,” said Clark Hubbard.
Because of the attack, the Kunselmans said they won’t get back on the Metro unless there’s security on every train.
“If there was somebody there in some kind of uniform, I don’t think it would have happened,” said Deyona.
According to the MetroLink Task Force Summary, the most recent data indicates incidents increased by around 10 percent from 2021 to 2022. Around half of those were initiated by proactive policing.
And Metro also has plans for riders to be more secure.
They’re doubling the number of video cameras, adding metal detectors and bringing on more police this summer, paying them overtime.
“The visibility of police on our system, that’s what impacts perceptions and makes people feel more comfortable and that’s what we will continue to build,” said Kevin Scott, General Manager for Security at Bi-State Development.
The attack on Lee appears to be truly random. He said he doesn’t remember everything, maybe he bumped a guy accidentally, but nothing to warrant getting stomped on.
“It didn’t give any reason they didn’t have any weapons on them, they didn’t ask for any money, they didn’t try to take anything from us,” said Lee.
Robertson is being held without bond.
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