Two 18-year-old Illinois women are accused of “mob action” after dragging women into the woods and beating them up for no apparent reason.
Hayley A. Ditzler and Olivia J. Brown were arrested for alleged assaults on Wednesday, according to the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office. According to court documents, the charge is filed when a defendant “knowingly uses force or violence disturbing the public peace by two or more persons acting together and without authority of law.”
According to the complaint, Brown and Ditzler pulled one victim into the woods on April 18 and punched and kicked her in the face, mouth, stomach, arms, and legs. According to a bond motion, the defendants pose a “continued threat to the victim” and “may harm, harass, or interfere with the victim’s personal liberty”.
The complaint did not specify the motive for the alleged attacks, which occurred in Madison County and St. Clair County, both in southeast Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri.
While Brown and Ditzler are only charged with one attack, other women have accused the pair of assaulting them. Local NBC affiliate KDSK spoke with one alleged victim, a former friend of the teens, who claimed the defendants also dragged her out to the woods and beat her.
The woman, Evelyn Berentz, told the TV station that she was out with friends on the night of April 18 — the same night Brown and Ditzler allegedly attacked a different victim — when she noticed people approaching the back of her car as if to attack.
“I saw a whole bunch of boys with ski masks on,” Berentz explained. “I saw Olivia and Hayley and just drove away.”
According to Berentz, Brown and Ditzler called her the next day to apologize and invite her to a home in nearby Caseyville, the TV station reported. Instead of an apology, the two teenagers appeared to have something else in mind.
“Hailey covered my mouth from behind me and was telling me if I screamed, she would end my life right there,” Berentz told the newspaper.
The victim claimed that the two suspects took her to the woods and beat her up. They reportedly videotaped the ordeal and shared it online. Berentz reposted the video of her attack on her Facebook page, where she appears to beg her attackers to stop. She received scrapes and bruises, but is grateful that it wasn’t worse.
“I know if I wouldn’t have screamed or fought back they would’ve killed me,” Berentz told the crowd.
Berentz’s mother, Lara McCord, is concerned about her daughter’s safety.
“These girls are dangerous,” McCord told the television station.
According to KDSK, authorities in neighboring St. Clair County are also investigating alleged attacks involving Ditzler and Brown.