A witness said the attack occurred outside the entrance to the skate park. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib
Three teenage suspects were arrested in connection with the alleged robbery and stabbing of a 17-year-old boy Friday afternoon at the skate park near Pier 25 in Tribeca.
The victim arranged to meet the buyer, a girl, at the skate park to sell three hooded sweatshirts, according to published reports. Police say the two male suspects, both from Queens, then threatened the boy with a knife, and stabbed him in the left thigh before taking the items and fleeing. The victim, a Stuyvesant High School senior, according to the reports, was taken to Bellevue Hospital in serious condition, police said.
One male suspect, 17, was arrested Friday night and the second male suspect, 16, was arrested early Saturday morning. Both were charged with first degree robbery and two counts of second degree robbery. Police say the girl, 16, also from Queens, “acted in concert” with the other two teens. She was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with second degree robbery.
A 12-year-old witness said he saw five to seven kids around the victim at the entrance to the park. “They were talking and then they started pushing and they pushed this guy into a corner and were harassing him,” said the witness, who asked not to be identified. He said he heard the victim yelling, “Get off me. Stop,” but did not see a knife.
He said “a couple of the guys” were shoving while the others, who all appeared to be high school age, stood around watching. The group, he said, “broke up and left and [the victim] went to the bathroom and came out and started yelling, ‘I got stabbed, I got stabbed.’ And then called someone on the phone.”
A friend of the victim told the Daily News that the victim had arranged to meet a girl at the park to sell her $3,000 worth of designer hoodies for $1,500. Instead, the News was told, the victim was met by his assailants.
Police say the two male suspects have previous arrest records. The 16-year-old, they said, had been picked up in October for carrying a firearm and six-blade knife. The 17-year-old had twice been arrested for petit larceny and possession of a controlled substance.
Madelyn Wils, president of the Hudson River Park Trust, which oversees the five-mile-long park, said this was the first serious incident at the skate park.
“It’s very safe,” Wils told the Trib. “This is one incident.”
“We continue to spend quite a bit of money on security and we’re outfitting the park, starting with Tribeca, with cameras, and security is important to us,” Wils added. “But there’s no one who can ever prevent something like this from happening.”