A BABY boy said by police to have been beaten by three boys, two of them eight years old and the other six years old, remained in critical condition on Wednesday night at Oakland Children's Hospital, a police spokesman said.
The three boys were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder on Tuesday. They were accused of savagely beating the month-old baby when they broke into a house to steal a bicycle, police said.
The three children, whose names were not released, were taken to Juvenile Hall in Martinez, California, where they were "booked for investigation of attempted murder", said Sgt Mike Walter, a spokesman for police in Richmond, near San Francisco.
The baby boy, also not identified, suffered severe head injuries and was in critical condition on life support in hospital, Sgt Walter said.
Seasoned police officers were shocked by the beating. Sgt Walter, a 22-year police veteran, said he had never seen such a thing before.
Police allege that the three boys - two eight-year-old twins and a six-year-old friend - entered a house in Richmond on Monday evening and stole a bicycle.
Inside, they came across a month-old baby sleeping in a cot. They knocked over the cot, then kicked the baby and hit him with their hands and a stick, Sgt Walter said. They then left with the bicycle, he said. Police say the motive for the attack is unknown.
The baby's 18-year-old step-sister, in another part of the house at the time of the attack, found the injured baby and called the police. The parents were at work.
Several witnesses saw the children with the stolen bicycle and told police.