Police did not allow an accused rapist and armed robber, who was viciously beaten by a group of vigilantes, to file a complaint against his attackers, his lawyer claimed yesterday.

Attorney Keith Seymour criticized press liaison officer ASP Audley Peters for describing the attack that left 18-year-old Kevin Dean with broken bones as “a citizen’s arrest”.

A video of Dean, of White’s Addition, and two other teenagers tied up on the ground while being interrogated by residents about the June 16 rape and armed robbery of a 47-year-old woman, off Mackey Street, went viral on social media.

Dean and a 16-year-old, of Ball’s Alley, appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney accused of raping the woman and robbing her at gunpoint of a $250 phone.

Dean appeared in court with a head bandage, a stiff neck cervical collar and a soft cast on his hand.

Seymour blasted officials at the hospital for releasing Dean before he was properly healed. He said that Dean had sustained four broken fingers as he held up his hands to fend off blows rained down with pieces of wood.

According to Seymour, Dean also had fractured vertebrae, which would be exacerbated by sleeping on a strip of cardboard on the concrete cell floor.

In response, McKinney said Dean will be evaluated by a doctor on admission to the prison, and the medical officer there will determine if the facility could manage his injuries. McKinney agreed that people effecting citizens’ arrests should not use excessive force.

Dean is accused of robbing Tiesha Adderley of an iPhone XS, a Bluebird Sylphy and her wallet that contained $60 on June 11.

He’s also charged with the May 24 armed robbery of Kawasaki Wilson of a Honda Fit.

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