New York Daily News

B’klyn girl ‘traumatize­d’ after mob beating

- BY THOMAS TRACY, ELLEN MOYNIHAN, ROCCO PARASCANDO­LA AND KERRY BURKE

A 15-year-old Brooklyn girl who was brutally beaten by a mob of teens and robbed of her shoes and cellphone is “traumatize­d” by the attack, family members said.

Police on Friday released surveillan­ce video of the horrific Crown Heights assault — prompting officials to call for justice.

“This is unacceptab­le,” Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said in a Facebook Live post Friday morning. “And it’s not funny. It’s not cute. It’s not something we can ignore and act like it did not happen.”

Five suspects, all juveniles, turned themselves in accompanie­d by their parents, NYPD sources said Friday night. The assault was retaliatio­n from a previous assault, said a police source, who did not elaborate.

The suspects will not be identified because of their ages, police said.

The teen victim was chased to the corner of Utica Ave. and Sterling Place around 4:10 p.m. Thursday before being knocked to the ground. A horde of teens then descended up on her, video shows.

The victim curled up in fetal position as the mob repeatedly kicked and punched her, the video shows.

The attackers stole the victim’s sneakers, cellphone and a debit card before scattering. The young girl was taken to Kings County Hospital.

“This person on the ground is a 15-year-old girl. Someone’s daughter. Someone’s sister. Someone’s niece,” Adams said pointing to a TV screen displaying footage of the attack. “This is outrageous.”

In fact, the victim turns out to be family to community activist Tony Herbert.

“She’s traumatize­d right now,” said Herbert, whose wife is the victim’s cousin. “[Her] mom is just devastated right now. This is Women’s History Month. We’re supposed to be celebratin­g women, not attacking and beating them.”

Police sources said the attack may have been revenge for a previous incident involving the victim — something Herbert denied.

“This whole thing is random. She doesn’t engage in negativity, she goes home and goes to the house and does her work,” he said.

“This was just a bunch of kids who converged on Utica Avenue,” said Herbert. “They hang out at the McDonald’s.”

“So when kids saw it, they all got involved,” he said. “Some of them probably don’t even know what they got themselves into by doing what they did. Now they’re all facing felonies.”

The injured teen was released from the hospital on Friday, police said. Herbert said the family was trying to glean from the victim exactly what happened, but the traumatize­d teen was still floating in and out of focus.

“I don’t want to see young people go to jail,” Herbert said. “But they can’t commit these kind of crimes.”

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