Gang of 6 teens — including 14-year-old girl 'leader' — charged for 'unprovoked,' broad-daylight beatdowns in space of 1 hour



A gang of six teenagers — including the "leader," a 14-year-old girl — have been charged in connection with a series of broad-daylight physical attacks that occurred in the space of one hour last week in Philadelphia.

The minors — all students at Anthony Wayne School in Grays Ferry — were charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, and other crimes in connection with the "unprovoked" attacks last Tuesday, WTXF-TV reported.

'Of the six that were arrested, none of them were arrested before, which is very, very surprising. We're not sure what caused them to do this.'

Some of their movements were captured on video the police department posted on YouTube. The video indicates that all of victims were attacked from behind and were punched in the head and face several times.

WTXF, citing investigators, said one of the teens punched a homeless man in the face near the intersection of 15th and Chestnut Streets around 3 p.m.

Philadelphia Police Inspector Raymond Evers noted that a 14-year-old girl, whom he described as the "leader," minutes later punched a 24-year-old woman near 17th and Chestnut Streets, the station said.

The other teens joined in by punching the woman while she was on the ground, after which the victim suffered a concussion, investigators told WTXF.

Evers noted that the girl "leader" was "instructing the other kids what to do," the station said, adding the Evers noted the girl was wearing "pink boots" and that the attacks were "unprovoked."

Evers added to WTXF that the teens moved to the 200 block of North 19th Street where a 31-year-old man was punched and chased less than an hour after the first attack.

Investigators added that a 40-year-old woman was punched near the Target on 20th and Callowhill Streets moments later, the station said.

Evers said the 14-year-old girl "leader" turned herself in with her parents that day after police shared surveillance video of teens wanted for the attacks, WTXF reported.

The following day the other five teens surrendered to police while accompanied by their parents, Evers told the station.

"The parents were right on point," Evers said, according to WTXF. "They saw their kids did something wrong ... and ... they turned their kids in."

Evers added to the station that investigators are still trying to figure out a motive: "Of the six that were arrested, none of them were arrested before, which is very, very surprising. We're not sure what caused them to do this."

You can view a news video report here about the charged teens.

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Horrified women say men punched them in face, head in unprovoked, broad-daylight attacks on NYC streets this month



"I was literally just walking and a man came up and punched me in the face," influencer Halley Mcgookin said through tears in a now-viral Monday video describing an attack against her that had just taken place on a New York City street, Today reported. "Oh my God, it hurts so bad. I can't even talk."

Mcgookin added in the clip — which Today said has received over 35 million views — that she fell to the ground after the punch; she then pointed to a bump on the upper right side of her head, the outlet noted.

She's not alone.

A number of horrified women are saying that men have punched them this month in unprovoked, broad-daylight attacks on Manhattan streets.

Mcgookin — known online as Halley Kate — said in a follow-up video that she was walking on a sidewalk looking down at her phone to send an email when a man who was walking his dog punched her, Today reported: “There was so much room on the sidewalk, literally nobody was around, and I guess this man — I don’t know if he punched me or elbowed me. I literally passed out, so I don’t really remember."

She added that when she tried to get up, the man was “screaming” at her before she ran away, the outlet reported.

NBC News noted that videos of women reporting similar attacks have picked up in the last week: One woman said she was attacked walking home from class; another while on her way to work; still another while she was walking her dog.

The news network added that a police spokesperson declined to answer whether the attacks reflect an uptick in violent crime against women in the city or whether the police department is taking any additional measures to ensure their safety.

NBC News reported that a 25-year-old woman said she was walking out of the Times Square subway station on 7th Avenue and West 42nd Street Saturday when a man punched her in the head. The victim told the news network that she captured video of the man as he was walking away, and police publicized in a poster that the suspect was wanted for assault.

The woman said on TikTok the "traumatic" experience will stick with her the "rest of [her] life," NBC News added: "We are always cautious about walking at night, now we have to be cautious about walking in broad daylight."

'Out of nowhere'

The news network also said Mikayla Toninato — a Parsons fashion design student — also shared a TikTok video saying she was punched in the face while leaving class in Manhattan as she was looking down at her phone and texting.

“Out of nowhere this man just came up and hit me in the face," she said in the clip with a bruise visible under one of her eyes, according to NBC News.

“He hit me right on my cheekbone," Toninato told the "Today" show Thursday, according to NBC News. "This doesn’t hurt as bad as the concussion does." She added that emotionally "it's been really really hard. I think it hits me in waves. A lot of crying because it’s been really scary."

Another woman reported getting punched by a man who apologized before he hit her, the news network said.

“I literally just got punched by some man on the sidewalk,” she said in a TikTok video, NBC News reported. “He goes ‘sorry’ and then punches me in the head.”

Police told the news network the attack took place around 11:48 a.m. March 17 while a woman was walking her dog in the area of Kenmare and Mulberry Streets and that "no injuries were reported as a result of this incident."

NBC News said the woman in an update posted to her TikTok account added: “I wasn’t looking down at my phone. I was just literally across the street from my building walking my dog to the dog park. I had seen the man. He was, like, slightly walking toward me, and I didn’t think anything of it. And then he says, ‘sorry,’ and hits me and was immediately gone.”

'I got attacked from behind'

The news network added that Sarah Harvard, 30, posted Tuesday on X that she was walking near the Delancey Street and Essex Street station on the Lower East Side when she was punched in the back of the head March 19.

“I was not on my phone. I was walking somewhere, and I got attacked from behind,” she told NBC News. “So it’s really violating that I didn’t see it coming, and there was nothing I could’ve done, really, to prevent it from happening.”

Harvard added to the news network that since the attack, she's felt a “spiky pain, throbbing feeling” in her head and experienced nausea, headaches, dizziness, and blurred vision.

More from NBC News:

Harvard said she initially didn’t go to the police because she thought that it was an isolated incident, and that officials might brush it off. Since she learned that more women have come forward online to say they’ve been assaulted, she said, she plans to file a police report.

Since the attack, Harvard said, she is struggling with feeling unsafe in the city she calls home.

“What’s really unbearable is that general, never-ending feeling now of feeling unsafe and feeling constantly alert, constantly looking over my shoulder,” she told the news network. “This anxiety is manifesting physically, too. I slept last night for two hours; the night before, I slept for four hours. I’m having trouble breathing, and my chest is getting really tight.”

An arrest

NBC News, citing police, said 40-year-old Skiboky Stora of Brooklyn was arrested Wednesday on an assault charge. The attack for which the news outlet said Stora was arrested is the same attack Today reported in reference to Mcgookin.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Image source: YouTube screenshot

More from NBC News:

Stora has sought public office in New York since 2021, public records show. He participated in a New York City mayoral debate in 2021. In 2022, he filed a handwritten petition to get on the ballot for New York governor. Last year, records show, Stora ran for the District 9 seat on the New York City Council.

However, the news network added Stora and the suspect wanted in connection with the Saturday assault outside the Times Square subway station do not appear to be the same person.

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Violent 11-year-old girl is terrorizing unsuspecting people in Boston. Cops know all about her — but can't do much because of her age.



A violent 11-year-old girl has been terrorizing unsuspecting people in Boston, roaming the streets with a crew of other violent juveniles — but while police know all about the young girl, authorities can't do much because of her age.

Say what?

A particular group of juveniles has been responsible for several violent, unprovoked attacks in the city in recent weeks, WFXT-TV reported. Last month the group attacked an 81-year-old man and covered him with whipped cream inside a Downtown Crossing McDonalds, WFXT said. Also last month, the same juveniles kicked and punched a woman — calling her a "white b***h with braids" — in the same area.

Toward the end of its video report, WFXT said several teens were charged in both incidents — except for a girl who is only 11 years old.

Then on Wednesday night, two students from Suffolk University in Boston were physically attacked on Boston Common by the same group of teens, WFXT said.

Police believe the main instigator in the attack was that same 11-year-old girl, the station said.

What are the details?

At 6:30 p.m. the teens were harassing a woman and her child near the Earl of Sandwich shop on the common, and two Suffolk students tried to help, WFXT said.

“As the woman walked away the group began swearing at her," according to a police report, the station said.

With that, the Suffolk students told the teens to leave the woman alone — and then the teens took aim at the students, WFXT reported.

“At this point the slim, black juvenile female began punching [her] and knocked her glasses off her face," the police report said, according to the station. "She then stepped on her glasses before punching her again."

One of the students shot video of the incident, WFXT said, adding that police identified the main instigator as an 11-year-old and said she's well known to officers and is responsible for terrorizing unsuspecting citizens of downtown Boston. WBZ-TV reported that police identified the girl because of the recorded video.

But because of her age, the 11-year-old girl won't be formally charged — just issued a summons, WBZ-TV reported. Investigators said they cannot prosecute anyone under the age of 12, WBTS-CD said.There were were five juveniles in the attacking group on the commons consisting of kids no older that 14, WBZ said.

As you might guess, Suffolk students and local business owners are nervous.

“This is my first semester in Boston," Emma Fairfield, a new sophomore at Suffolk, told WFXT. "So, hearing about some of this stuff is kind of scary."

Christopher Tinney, general manager of Earl of Sandwich, added to the station that knowing the time that this latest incident occurred on a Wednesday evening, it could easily "happen on a Friday or a Saturday night or any week from now on, and that is kind of scary."

Madison Amaral, also a Suffolk sophomore, also told WFXT that he and other students "walk home in groups and stuff, always ready with our phones."

Yet another attack by the same group

The station said new video shows the same group of juveniles terrorizing Silvertone’s restaurant in Downtown Crossing in late March. Citing a police report, WFXT said the teens demanded drinks and shouted at customers — and one teen even pulled a knife on a witness.

While the owner got the teens out, they returned and smashed the front doors, leaving shards of glass all over the floor, the station said.