Three teens charged for gang assault in attack on retired NYC cop

Two 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old responsible for the attack were brought to the 19th Precinct station house on Friday by their families after police released images of the suspects for the public to help identify them. According to the New York Post, the parents recognized their children in the photos and chose to turn them in.

“I guess they were embarrassed,” a police source told the Post. The teenagers have each been charged with second-degree gang assault and second-degree assault.

The teens attacked the 65-year-old retired lieutenant at about 8 pm on Tuesday after he tried to intervene as the trio were harassing a taxi driver on the Upper East Side at Park Avenue and East 84th Street.

According to police, when the retired lieutenant tried to get them to stop, the teens hit the retired officer with a backpack and punched him in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. The victim suffered minor injuries to his face and knee but declined medical treatment.

“They were looking for trouble harassing everyone they saw,” the victim, who chose to remain unidentified, told the Post. “When they started to bother the cab driver, I went over and told them to leave him alone. That’s when one coward hit me from behind with a backpack.”