Video: Teens Beaten By Queens Crowd Over Social Media Spat, Cops Say

New York City NY

12 May, 2022

9:33 AM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — A social media spat boiled over into real life when a crowd brutally pummeled and used a Taser-like weapon on two teen girls in front of a Queens McDonald's, police said. The Monday melee unfolded about 4:15 p.m. and left the girls — ages 14 and 15 — with swelling, bruising, scrapes and cuts on their heads and bodies, authorities said. Medics took the girls from the beatdown site in a McDonald's parking lot along Springfield Boulevard near 89th Avenue to Cohen Children's Medical Center, where they were listed in stable condition, police said. Three girls — ages 14, 16 and 17 — were arrested and charged with harassment in connection to the assault, which escalated from a social media argument, police said. The beating was also apparently shared online, according to a video released by the NYPD. The video shows a chaotic scene as a crowd descends on the girls and beats them. In the midst of the fracas, the 16-year-old suspect used a Taser-like weapon on both girls, police said. A fourth, unidentified suspect — spotlighted by NYPD officials in the video — swooped in at one point to steal a backpack from the 15-year-old which contained $50, AirPods valued at $120 and her ID, police said. Police seek help finding this person they said stole a backpack from a teen girl amid an assault. (NYPD)People with information are asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). They can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.