Photo: Getty Images
Two teens have been charged with gang assault following a vicious attack on an off-duty firefighter at a park in New York City. The teens were part of a large group of people setting off fireworks at Juniper Valley Park in Queens last Friday (July 23) night.
The off-duty firefighter was walking his dog and confronted the group, asking them to stop lighting the fireworks.
"There were at least 100 kids," the unidentified 44-year-old victim told The New York Post. "I was walking my dog. They just picked me out and approached me."
Shocking video captured the moment the teens turned on the man and started brutally assaulting him as bystanders stood by and filmed. At one point, somebody broke a glass bottle over his head.
"One kid took his shirt off and said, 'it's Fight Night!' He said he was 19 and said, 'I could fight you.' Everyone took their cell phones out. There were cell phones everywhere," he continued. "They all came at me…A kid came up behind me and hit me in the back of the head with a bottle, and I let go of the dog.
Luckily, the firefighter managed to escape the violent crowd. He suffered only minor injuries and refused medical attention. One of the bystanders picked up the man's dog during the attack to keep it safe.
The New York City Police Department released the video and images of the teens, asking the public for help identifying them. When the parents of two of the suspects saw the photos, they turned their kids into the police.
Police said that the two teens, ages 14 and 15, were the main instigators in the assault and will have their case handled by the family court because they are minors.
A third suspect remains on the loose.