Last modified: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:54 AM EDT Foxboro youth faces charges of robbing teen at knifepoint BY DAVID LINTON SUN CHRONICLE STAFF MANSFIELD - A knife-wielding Foxboro teenager held up another teen for 75 cents while the victim was with a group of friends in the skateboarding area of Memorial Park, police say. But while police allege the incident was unprovoked, a lawyer for John K. Tebeau III, 18, of 31 South St. in Foxboro, said Tuesday that his client threatened no one with a knife, and suggested the incident arose from an altercation between two groups of teenagers. No other arrests were made, but police say they are still investigating the incident and more people may be charged. Tebeau faces charges of armed robbery and assault by means of a dangerous weapon. He was expected to post $200 cash bail set for his release. He was arrested about 5:45 p.m. Monday at the park following an investigation by Detective Michael Ellsworth, the first officer on the scene at the park off Hope Street. Assistant District Attorney Coli McMahon said in a bail argument that Tebeau was identified by the victim as the person who held a knife to him and told him to "run his pockets." McMahon said Tebeau also faces a pending gun possession charge in Wrentham District Court, and allegedly committed the robbery at Memorial Park while out on bail. "He's waving a knife around in parks," McMahon said. Police said the defendant and the victim did not know each other. But Tebeau's lawyer, Bruce Rich of Norton, argued that the case involved two groups of teenagers who exchanged words that lead to an altercation. He denied any weapon was used. He said Tebeau had a hunting knife that belongs to his girlfriend, which he volunteered when police arrived, and suggested that witnesses who spoke with police exaggerated what happened. Rich said his client remained at the scene for police to arrive, and suggested they view videotape from security cameras in the park to prove his innocence, but was told the cameras were not working. "If you read the police report, it makes this gentlemen look like a thug," Rich said, faulting police for the manner in which his client was identified. He said Tebeau is a high school dropout who works as a landscaper and has a minor arrest record. Regarding the gun case in Wrentham District Court, Rich said Tebeau was stopped while driving a car owned by a passenger in the vehicle, and denied the gun belonged to him. Judge Gregory L. Phillips declined to revoke Tebeau's bail set in the Wrentham case. McMahon requested $5,000 cash bail on the Mansfield charges, but Phillips set bail at $200. Tebeau is due back in the Attleboro court April 5.