New York Police Department (NYPD) officers were able to bear witness to a five-on-one brawl but did not make attempts to intervene. The incident resulted in an 11-year-old girl being beaten, bruised, and cut in the middle of the street by five other girls.
Brutal assault
The scene was photographed by a reporter who heard reports of a disturbance at the scene. The five girls slapped, punched, kicked, and stun gunned the victim after a 7:00 p.m. basketball game on Sunday in Harlem.
According to the New York Post, the brutal beatdown lasted for four minutes, and New York police officers stood idly by and let the scene play out instead of trying to break up the fight. The photographer reported that the cops only approached the scene when the young girl was already bleeding and severely bruised.
There were at least 20 police cars present near the area, and one was a little more than the length of a vehicle away from the exact spot of the beating as can be seen in the photos.
Sources from the police said the 11-year-old girl was brought to the Mount Sinai Hospital where medical staff treated her cuts, bruises, and shock to the stomach caused by the stun gun. The victim told reporters she did not know any of her attackers but did have information about social media information of two of the five assaulters.
A spokesman for the NYPD claimed the photographs captured by the reporter were utterly inaccurate and did not show the whole situation. Representative Al Baker said a large crowd blocked the police officers as they were approaching the victim being brutally beaten. The spokesman said people were throwing objects at the cops and were forced to take alternative routes and called all available resources in the area.
In a Twitter post, the NYPD uploaded footage that showed projectiles being thrown at police officers, but it was not said when or where the incident was and did not show the victim being beaten. However, the photographer that captured the scene noted he did not see bottles being thrown at police.
It remains unknown if any arrests were made in association with the attack.
Similar incident
Previously, a similar incident happened where suspects stabbed and beat a 14-year-old teen in a harrowing Bronx street and where the event was captured on camera.
The video lasted for only nine seconds but showed one suspect wielding a knife punching and stomping on the victim who was huddling on the ground while the other suspect ran across the street, as reported by NY Daily News.
Police officers said the two attackers fled towards the nearby NYCHA Monroe Houses located in the area.
Witnesses who saw the incident called 911 and told dispatchers the suspect chasing the victim was a male Hispanic. Medical respondents on the scene found the 14-year-old teen on the street and transferred him to Jacobi Medical Center and treated him for his injuries.
However, when the young boy recovered, police said he did not cooperate with investigators who were trying to find his attackers.
