By Andrew Coen
Just over a week after an Inwood neighborhood was the site of a violent attack by 20 youngsters, police have developed new leads that could help identify members of the large group of youths who attacked a 58-year-old man at the corner of Doughty Boulevard and Bayview Avenue on Nov. 27.
Fourth Squad Detective Lt. Gregory Detwiller said in a phone interview that the investigation is in its early stages, and that police believe the suspects were part of a street gang, and that they live in the Inwood or Far Rockaway area.
The victim, whose identity has not been released by police, was confronted by around 20 young men in front of the 24-hour Inwood Super Mart Incorporated convenience store at 83 Doughty Blvd. at 12:30 a.m., while he was walking to the Inwood train station. Police said that some of the youths, who were walking from a local party, became verbally abusive, while others began striking the victim, claiming he did not show them proper respect after they said something to him and he walked past them on the sidewalk. The man was pushed to the ground, and his head was kicked against a cement step in front of the store before the group fled west on Bayview Avenue, police said.
"It seems ... the victim was in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Detwiller.
The man suffered a sprained shoulder and cuts to his head, and received stitches at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside before being released on Nov. 28, according to police.
Detectives ask anyone with information about the crime to contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
