Teen knifed in neck, has phone stolen

A 16-year-old boy was stabbed in the neck by a mugger who snatched his cellphone in Brooklyn early Tuesday, officials and friends said.

The teen, who is expected to recover, was walking along Atlantic Ave. in East New York with a friend when the crook stormed up to him on Euclid Ave. and demanded his valuables about 5:45 a.m., cops said.

The victim was just returning home from work when he was mugged, friends said.

“He’s a good kid and has a good upbringing... just got caught up in the wrong thing,” said one friend who wished not to be named. “That could’ve been me walking there. I was there just last night.”

The mugger, who was sporting dreadlocks and a surgical mask, swiped the victim’s cellphone. When the teen fought back, the mugger whipped out a knife and plunged it into the victim’s neck. The struggle was captured on surveillance video obtained by the Daily News.

The victim tried to run off but collapsed on the concrete a few feet away. His friends continued to fight the mugger, who ran off when police arrived.

“The screaming outside woke me up in the morning,” said Ganesh Lallbachan, who lives nearby.

“A lot of crime happens right here because it’s a dead end,” Lallbachan added. “My dad’s car got broken into a month ago . . . Two guys on a scooter came down this street and tried to rob me. . . . All this stuff happens late at night, after 12.”

Medics rushed the teen to Maimonides Medical Center, where he is expected to recover.

No arrests have been made.