Commuters React To Vicious Subway Attack
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A group of teenage boys shoved a 16-year-old girl onto the subway tracks before assaulting and robbing her, police said.
The incident took place at around 8 p.m. Sunday night at the Utica Avenue station in Crown Heights.
The girl was on the platform when at least 10 other teens approached her and threw her onto the tracks, police said. She hurt her head and ankle when she landed.
While she was on the tracks, two of the suspects jumped down and attacker her until her face was swollen.
The girl's mother says she's back in school and doing okay, but commuters say they're alarmed by the violent assault.
"No man is supposed to put his hand on a woman," Valerie Dean tells CBS2's Ali Bauman. "Your mom is supposed to raise you like that."
"They should tell themselves they have parents, they have sisters, and they have to get their act together," commuter Jacqueline Toussaint said.
Police sources tell CBS2 the suspects stole what the victim had on her at the time -- a hat, a coat, her high school ID card, and $20 --- before they ran off and left her on the tracks. Authorities say a stranger then helped her up and called police.
The victim may have known her attackers, police said. She was taken to the hospital and is expected to make a complete recovery.
Investigators are reviewing surveillance video, searching for faces among the group of men wanted in the violent beating.