By:Jeff Lipton
Francine Thun of Hewlett said she and a friend could not turn their backs on a 17-year-old boy who was being savagely beaten with a slat from a picket fence in Cedarhurst during a fight between two groups on Fourth of July.
Thun and her friend, who did not want to be identified, were driving home in a rainstorm after dinner when they saw Yoni Farag being pummeled by a group of about four teens on Columbia Avenue and Broadway, at about 10:30 p.m. that Wednesday.
Thun ran over to comfort Farag and wrapped her sweater around his blood-soaked head as her friend chased after his assailants, screaming at them. In a face-to-face confrontation with them, she shouted, "How could you do such a thing? Are you crazy?" The women called 911 on a cell phone and police showed up within minutes. Farag, who lives in Woodmere, was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, where he was listed in critical condition with multiple trauma and a severely injured right eye, officials said. He was released from the hospital Saturday, July 7, a hospital spokesperson said.
The two good Samaritans are being hailed as heroines, saving the youth from more severe injuries and possibly rescuing him from death.
The women acted because they said they have teenage children and Farag could have been any one of their children's friends who was being brutally beaten.
"We saw these boys beating up this boy on somebody's lawn," Thun said. "They had a piece of fence in their hand. They were chasing him and hitting him with the fence.
"We called 911 and jumped out of the car," she said. "My friend chased the kids and I ran over to the kid who was bleeding. He was covered in blood. If you see somebody being beaten up like that, you have to do something. He could have been any one of my kids' friends."
Thun, who has two daughters, ages 17 and 19, said all of her daughters' boyfriends' faces flashed on Farag's face as she stared at the scared teen.
"My friend called police and yelled into the phone, 'They are going to kill him,' and they got there in no time," Thun said.
Police said no arrests had been made as they tried to sort out what happened and who were the main participants in the fight. Det. Sgt. John King of the Fourth Squad said two groups of teens, ages 17 and 18, were "warring" with one another at about 10:50 p.m.
A group of four teens were shooting off fireworks in the backyard of 15 Washington Ave., Lawrence, when Farag and two or three others walked into the backyard to observe the display, King said.
"They walked up the driveway to see what was going on and words were exchanged," King said. "They were being chased out of there. At Columbia and Broadway they met up and a fracas took place."
One youth ripped a slat from a picket fence of a nearby home and began to beat Farag with it, King said. He said about six to seven youths were involved in the fights and police were seeking to question them before any criminal charges were lodged. One or more of the youths could be charged, he said. "We are attempting to identify the assailants," King said. "We've got to go back and talk to all the main players. There were seven to eight people involved and we want to make sure we've got the right people. There was side-fighting going on as well."
King said Farag was originally in danger of losing his right eye after receiving a fracture of a bone near his eye, but his prognosis has improved. "He has some vision in his right eye," King said.
Thun said she spoke with the youth on the phone from his hospital bed and he thanked her for helping him, although his memory of the incident was vague.
King praised the women for getting involved. "They saw what was going on and they stepped in," he said. "What they did is unusual in this day and age. They did the right thing and took steps to take care of the kid."
A friend of the women, who was on the phone with them when they sprung into action, said, "They are heroes. They saved his life. They are wonderful women.
"They are incredible. Both are very strong women and big-hearted," she said. "The group could have turned on them but they got involved anyway."
