By Anthony Rifilato
Police said that at 9:56 p.m. on Jan. 13, a 15-year-old boy was surrounded by 20 to 30 teens aged 18 to 19 at the intersection of Fairview Avenue and Overlook Place in Baldwin. The older boys, who were armed with baseball bats, approached the teen, who was with a few friends, said Detective Lt. Andrew Fal of the 1st Precinct.
The teens demanded that the boy empty his pockets. When he refused, he was punched in the face and pummeled by several assailants when he attempted to run away.
The boy made it to a neighbor's house and called police. The assailants fled, and the boy, who had suffered some contusions and abrasions, refused medical assistance, police said.
Fal explained that it is unclear if the incident is gang-related, and added that the assailants, who were white and Hispanic, appear to be from Baldwin. They may have been just a bunch of school kids rather than a gang. "A couple of them yelled out things against Oceanside," said Fal.
The beating was preceded by a separate incident at 8:05 p.m. Police said that four males wearing ski masks approached three boys, ages 12 and 13, who were skateboarding in the west parking lot of Baldwin Middle School.
The mask-wearing men, who police said were black males ages 18 and 19, demanded that the boys empty their pockets and threatened to use physical violence. The men made off with a cell phone, money and two digital cameras, fleeing northbound on Schrieber Place in a gold Nissan Altima. Police said the boys were not injured.
Just minutes earlier, at 7:52 p.m., a 51-year-old Freeport man was approached by six males as he walked on Hillside Avenue near Weberfield Avenue. The man was struck in the back of the head with a metal pipe and suffered a laceration. He was admitted to Nassau University Medical Center for observation. The men, who police said were black, fled on foot toward Babylon Turnpike.
Fal said that the three incidents are not related, and he was unsure whether the Freeport man knew his attackers. "It is different groups," said Fal. "It's not a rampage by one particular group."
He said that younger teenagers can be easy targets. "They're easy to intimidate," Fal said. He also explained that robberies and assaults have been increasing lately, and that police have stepped up patrols. "We seem to be getting more pedestrian-accosting," Fal said. "The incidents take place in a matter of seconds."
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