Several attacks in Morningside Park in recent weeks — some allegedly committed by children between the ages of about 12 and 15 — have raised concerns among neighbors in the area. Friends of Morningside Park has sent around a notice about the attacks, and a vigil is set for Thursday, May 9 at 6 pm to call attention to the violence.
In the past two weeks, three robberies were committed by a group of young people that appear to fit the same description, according to Captain Aneudy Castillo, commanding officer of the 26th Precinct. Castillo says that the suspects may also be responsible for other recent assaults.
“Two females and five males, very young,” he said. “They range in age from 12 to 15. Over the previous two weeks, they’ve committed three robberies. One robbery we can definitively say is them. We will shortly have arrest warrants for their arrest. The other two, we’re very confident it’s them, but we still have to do some work to establish probable cause. We expect to arrest them by the end of the week. We have their addresses, their names, we have everything we need to pick them up.
“We’ll bring them and interview them and, usually, especially with kids that are this young, in the presence of their parents, they admit to other things they’ve done.”
“None of victims can identify perpetrators, because they snuck up and attacked them,” he added.
“I want the community to rest assured that they’re identified, we know where they live, everybody in this precinct knows who they are, and we’re keeping an eye on them, and we’re going to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
