A 62-year-old Staten Island resident declared he wants to move after he was brutally attacked by a mob of teenagers during his daily evening stroll last month, according to reports.
The man was walking near the intersection of Howard Avenue and Clove Road in the Sunnyside neighborhood just after 7 p.m. July 15 when the group of delinquents began to harass him.
Streetside surveillance cameras captured the moment when nine juveniles followed the man down the road, according to video obtained by silive.com.
One of the delinquents rushed up behind the man, who jumped into the middle of a busy street to avoid the bunch as the rest of the group chased him across the road.
“He raised his fists and said, ‘Pick one’ and I said, ‘Not interested,’” the man told NBC New York. “I thought it was just a kid joking around.
“I don’t know, maybe that set them off or something, I don’t know, but they were looking for trouble,” he added.
The man said the laughing group didn’t try to rob him or make any remarks.
Several punches were thrown at the man as he ran off camera as the assault continued. He was left with bruises on his knee and stitches in his finger.
He recalled his attackers fled when they noticed others rushing to help the man lying on the road.
The man was brought to Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton, where he incurred approximately $5,000 in medical expenses for his injuries, according to silive.com.
“His mouth is all messed up. He was blindsided and kicked all over his body,” a relative of the victim told the outlet. “He fell flat on his face, not expecting anybody to hit him.”
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The man alleges that the group targeted multiple people before his disturbing encounter.
“They actually harassed two other people before me, before I got there,” he told NBC New York. “So I basically walked into an ambush.”
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella says he watched video of the pack of “young individuals” get off a bus and walk up and down Clove Street for several minutes.
“They antagonized and ultimately assaulted an individual who ended up in the hospital,” Fossella told silive.com.
“He was just minding his business on a beautiful summer night, walking down the street, he ended up surrounded by a pack of individuals,” said Fossella. “He ended up running across Clove Road — he could have gotten killed, hit by a car.”
“The point is that it could have been anybody’s grandfather or grandmother just walking down the street minding their own business, and they’re assaulted, and that is just intolerable.”
The attack has left the man afraid to go outside — and even wanting to move.
“I wanna leave here, I no longer want to live here,” he said.
On Thursday, the NYPD arrested two minors in connection to the July attack.
Two boys, ages 13 and 14, were charged with assault with the intent to cause physical injury, according to silive.com.
