5th Ave. teen terrors
Youths bash BMW as man & ma cower inside
A band of teen bicyclists pounded and smashed the windows and hood of a BMW in Manhattan after one of the boys was hurt in a mishap with the vehicle, startling videos show.
Witnesses said the horrifying scene sparked off after dozens of teenagers on BMX bicycles surrounded the BMW on Fifth Ave. near 21st St. in the Flatiron District.
The teens turned angry after one of their friends fell to the ground after trying to grab one of the car’s door handles for a ride at about 4 p.m. Tuesday, the witnesses said.
The car’s driver told the Daily News that the teens’ relentless assault sent glass into his and his mother’s faces, as his mom called 911 and screamed in terror in the passenger seat. “She started crying and screaming to the 911 operator,” recalled Max Torgovnick, 36.
“They heard her screaming, ‘They are going to kill us! We’re going to die! Send help please, we need help!’ ”
Torgovnick said he and his mother were on their way to drop off donations at a Housing Works thrift store in Chelsea when the young bicyclists came up behind his car at 23rd St. and Fifth Ave.
“I was at the red light. As the
light turned green, I started to pull forward and I saw in the rear view mirror all these bikes coming, and I wasn’t sure what was about to happen,” Torgovnick said.
“They were going 7, 8 mph and I noticed some of them pulling in front of the car, some of them are holding on to the door handles to get a free ride. I saw that, and I was like, ‘This is a dangerous situation.’ ”
Torgovnick said he slowed down, planning to let the teens pass, and had no idea one of them had crashed. “When I heard the thud, I didn’t know what happened,” said Torgovnick. “I didn’t know if somebody had, like, hit the car with their hand out of anger.”
A witness, Daniel Winarick, posted video of the incident and said the cyclist who crashed suffered a bloody lip.
Torgovnick said after he heard the thud, “I slowed down to a stop and started to open the door. But suddenly I’m surrounded by a dozen people who start to get off their bikes and surround the car.”
Videos show at least four bicyclists attacked the 2009 BMW SUV.
The teens body-slammed the vehicle and punched a rear driver’s side window. “Get out of the car!” and “roll down the window!” they shouted, by Torgovnick’s account.
Video shows one of them slamming down his bike on the SUV’s hood. Another cyclist ran up on the hood and jumped on the windshield, causing it to spider-web.