Two Paterson teens charged for assaulting elderly man in viral video

Two city teens have been charged with assaulting an unsuspecting elderly man as he attempted to cross an intersection, the video of which went viral on social media sparking widespread condemnation and a police investigation.

Police have identified and charged a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old with aggravated assault and endangering an injured victim for the vicious unprovoked attack on the victim as he attempted to cross the intersection of Rosa Parks Boulevard and Van Houten Street, according to police.

Police director Jerry Speziale said the assailant shown in the video sucker punching the defenseless old man is the 17-year-old while the voice egging him on from outside of the camera vantage point is the 16-year-old.

Speziale said the 16-year-old filmed the assault which went viral on Thursday forcing a police response. He said the boy surrendered to police at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

The 17-year-old assailant remains at large and is currently being sought by police. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is being urged to contact police.

Police cannot release further information about the suspects because of their age, said the director.

The director said the video that was distributed on Facebook and Twitter shows an assault which took place on December 7th, 2015. He said the video shows an elderly man getting ready to cross Rosa Parks Boulevard from Van Houten Street. The video shows the victim being approached by the 17-year-old while the 16-year-old allegedly tells him to “Knock him out! Knock him out!”

The 17-year-old has a brief exchange with the victim before striking him. The elderly man falls to the ground apparently unconscious.

“This shameless act of violence was thoroughly investigated and the tireless efforts by the detectives involved is commendable,” said Speziale. He said detectives Charlie Garcia, Joel Santiago, Mike Figueroa, Cindy Carrera, and Jeff Robinson worked non-stop reviewing countless number of tips and recordings that led to the assailants being identified.

“The juvenile at large will continue to be sought with the same tenacity and will face swift and decisive justice for this senseless act of violence,” vowed Speziale.

lol

charge for attempted murder or gtfo
Anthony P

These 2 need to be tried as ADULTS! Do the right thing, Paterson NJ!
Anthony P

Or better yet, just execute them!
- WhoWouldDoThis
  
  Yes, let's execute this two teenagers for an assault charge. Clearly a reasonable solution.
  - Anthony P
    
    Trust me, executing these two pieces of garbage is a much better solution than subjecting society to a lifetime of their dangerous criminality. Not to mention society footing the bill for their multiple incarcerations. I'm guessing you think they need more education funding and after-school programs? No. They should be flushed down the toilet.
  - jay5775
    
    Hell yeah in fact how about we get Luke Rockhold (UFC MW champ) put these two little freaks in the Octagon with him, lock the cage, and pay Luke about 3 million to do his thing. Now that would be funny. They wouldn't be so tough then would they. Not realistic but funny nonetheless.
  - DrJedi001
    
    Eh, not a loss, they wouldn't be missed.
Abraham Salcedo

I hope they get the full extend of the law and don't get away with a slap in the wrist and and warning. Seriously, this happens more times than we'd like.
David Kuehne

They need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Charge them as adults and hit them with the book. This type of BS has been going on, and an example needs to be set.
Colette Marino

Prosecute as adults!!!!! Full sentence!! They're evil!
James Thompson

I don't care how young they are. You need to release their info just because of the type of crime committed and the way they acted! Totally unjustified and sick the way these kids are acting. Back in my day growing up if I did something like this my dad would have beat my ass and there wouldn't be any child abuse charges filed because that wasn't an option back then!
- Lacey
  
  The 17-year-old has been identified on FB. Everyone in the area knows who he is. Now the school and local parents can keep an eye on him while they keep other kids away from him.
- ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies
  
  I'll give you 10 to 1 odds these kids don't have dads.
David Yolles

What a pussy to sucked punch an old man. Guess he was afraid that if he did it to someone younger they would give him the beating he deserves. Wimp
The Supreme Gentleman

Kristian J. Gonzalez is his name. His girlfriend's name is Shamora Sparks.
- S3v3n007
  
  THANK YOU TSG!
SensualHarassment

Publicly shame the parents.
Angel Rodriguez

Trash like these should not be treated as teens!! We must change the laws so in cases like these, names and more detailed photos can be published. These monsters are taking advantage of lax laws to commit adult crimes.
Eaton Beaver (Kafir al-Amriki

And it happened on Rosa Parks Boulevard. Ms. Parks would be disgusted with this.
Tony Dang

I am a four-eyes geek and nerd who holds a software engineering degree. I am also a trained martial artist in Kung Fu. TO THAT COWARD, HIT ME! HIT ME!! HIT ME!!! Instead of that coward hitting that person, he should have helped him or her across the street. THAT TOUGH COWARD WANTS SOMEONE TO HIT, HIT ME!!! HIT ME!!! HIT ME!!!
GracieW

Can't release any more information because of their age? They're 16 and 17 not 8 and 9! Name them, shame them, charge them as adults and lock them up for 50 years. They could have killed that old man. I hope someone pounds them in prison. They deserve it–vile, wretched creatures.
- GracieW
  
  And any other young punks reading this who think the knockout game is funny–you may wind up with an extra hole between your eyes. Some of us still conceal carry. And some of us are a good shot. Just remember that you little thugs.
  - WhoWouldDoThis
    
    I guarantee you don't conceal carry.
    - jay5775
      
      How would you know Captain Halfwit?
    - Anthony P
      
      Let's hope all the pieces of garbage who want to injure the innocent think the same thing "WhoWouldDoThis" does. That way, they will get a surprise face-to-face meeting with Mr. Smith & Mr. Wesson.
Tim Schutte

Lynch the little bastard!
http://www.theshining.info Chris W.

It's complete BS that the, ahem……….."law", won't allow the release of these maggots names because of their tender young age. Would have been perfect if someone had come up and given each one of the maggots a baseball bat to the head.
John Smith

I saw the video. No trial or jury needed. Just throw the slimy punks into the trash where they belong.
Tina Louise Bond

This crap starts at home with the parents not teaching them respect for their elders go after the parents to if more parents are held responsable for their children that they are suppose to raise but don't maybe they will start
Aggie95

When you feed the bears you get problem bears
- Torked
  
  Bears? lol Coons would be the word you're looking for.
roccolore

BLM must be so proud of these two.
Barry Harden

Of course these ghetto ape trash play this game! They know they would be protected and their ID's won't be released. They'll serve in Juvenile detention and have no records to affect their adulthood.
moscowjade

It not really their fault. You can't expect better from cowardly street mongrels with no fathers. The best you can hope for is for one of them to get gut shot. They understand that language, and will learn better: like feral dogs.
hilowahine44

The parents should be held responsible also for raising a couple of Jerks for kids! They should pay for any medical issues the elderly man has and the kids should be made to do hard labor until they learn to respect other individuals…. Thanks to the police officer's who followed through and arrested them, hope they spend a long time in jail cleaning toilets
+
Torked

Typical kneegrow actions, would you honestly expect anything less from the less civilized?