Charges of aggravated rioting and robbery against a black 14-year-old were dropped Friday, court officials said. He had been accused of attacking a white truck driver and a hot dog vendor during the April riots.

        The youth, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, appeared Friday before Magistrate Denis Holtmeier in Hamilton County Juvenile Court.

        Court officials said the charges were dropped after witnesses, including truck driver Robert Stearns, could not positively identify the teen-ager from a videotape of the April 10 attack. The boy had said he was innocent.

        Film of the truck driver's beating was aired during television news coverage of rioting that followed a white police officer's fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, Timothy Thomas, 19, on April 7.

        A black 15-year-old accused of pulling Mr. Stearns from his vehicle will appear in Juvenile Court July 9 for a hearing to determine whether he will be transferred to Common Pleas Court for trial as an adult.

        The 15-year-old is charged with robbery and aggravated rioting. He is also charged with ethnic intimidation.

        The judge dismissed an added charge of kidnapping.

        Police allege that the 15-year-old attacked the white trucker, who is from Louisville, because of his race.

        Under Ohio law, the teen could be held only until he is 21 if convicted as a juvenile. If convicted as an adult, he could receive up to 28 1/2 years in prison.

        The 14-year-old's case could not be transferred to adult court because he was 13 when the alleged offenses occurred. In Ohio, a person must be at least 14 for transfer to adult court.

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