Updated: Teenager Arrested For Vicious Beating At Flatbush Avenue McDonald’s, BP Adams Offers $1K Reward For Info Leading To More Arrests
Updated Saturday, March 14, 3:39pm: Four of the six girls accused of participating in the horrific attack at a Flatbush Avenue McDonald’s are in police custody, and a fifth teen turned herself in to the NYPD today for questioning, CBS reported.
Original post: One of the teens who allegedly viciously beat a 15-year-old girl at a McDonald’s at 943 Flatbush Avenue was arrested and charged in Monday’s attack that was caught on a video that has gone viral, sparking worldwide outrage over the attack that was witnessed by dozens of people, including adults, who failed to intervene.
Aniah Ferguson, 16, was charged on Thursday as an adult with robbery and gang assault, police said. Ferguson has been arrested six times since she turned 16 last July, the Daily News reported.
At least five other girls, all between the ages of 15 and 18 years old, were involved in the beating, according to the NYPD. Police told us no one else has yet been charged, but they expect more arrests to be imminent.
The Daily News published the video Wednesday, which you can see here (beware, there’s obviously a lot of violence in the video), which shows a smaller girl trying to punch a bigger teen, after which the larger girl and a group of other girls proceed to assault the smaller individual inside the McDonald’s that’s located not far from the Erasmus Hall High School building.
At the end of the video, the victim remains on the ground as someone says, “Yo, she’s dead. It’s a murder.”
Police told the New York Times that the the group of teens attend school in the Erasmus Hall High School building and had apparently met at the McDonald’s with the intent to fight. The Daily News reported that some of the attackers are allegedly linked to a group called the Young Savages, which police told the newspaper is a “violent crew that operates out of Crown Heights.”
According to police, the 15-year-old victim was taken to Kings County Hospital on Monday and was released with non- life-threatening injuries.
The beating has drawn outrage from people across the city – and world, with numerous international news outlets picking up the story – including from our local leaders.
On Thursday afternoon, Borough President Eric Adams gathered with community leaders outside the Flatbush Avenue McDonald’s and announced he is offering a $1,000 reward, from his own personal funds, for information leading to the arrest of the others who took part in the crime.
“Many others were sick to see this vicious and brutal attack of a young person,” said Adams, who was joined by Councilman Mathieu Eugene and 70th Precinct Community Council President Ed Powell, among others. “The assault and the attack on a young 15-year old girl should be a wake-up call internationally on what we are doing with our young people.”
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s crime stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the crime stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.