'I Thought They Killed Him': Victims In Brutal Beating Caught On Video At Washington Heights Deli Speak Exclusively To CBS2
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A stepfather and daughter were the victims of a brutal beating caught on video inside a Washington Heights deli.
CBS2's Jessica Layton spoke exclusively to the victims.
Surveillance video from inside the deli shows a 22-year-old woman under attack, defending herself from punches and beer bottles thrown by a group of men and women.
"Came out of nowhere," the victim said.
It happened on July 7 inside a store at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 163rd Street.
"How do you feel seeing this for the first time?" Layton asked.
"I feel shocked," the victim said. "I blacked out because after... You have anxiety and you get nervous, you don't really remember stuff."
The victim says she was going to the deli to get food. Some guys she says she doesn't really know started bothering her, accusing her of contacting one of their girlfriends.
A few others joined in and they threw water on her, so she ran inside the store, but they followed.
"I got hit in my face, my head, my face, my neck," she said.
Her stepfather saw her getting hit and ran inside to defend her, but the group brutally ganged up on him, too.
He was beaten unconscious.
"I thought they killed him. I thought he died. I saw him on the floor," she said.
Swollen and bloody, he spent two days in the hospital.
"He still has pain in his face," the victim said, translating for her stepfather. "He doesn't come outside, just relaxing, resting."
Police have identified at least three of the suspects: 21-year-old Devonte Phillips, 22-year-old Tyquan Dupont and 26-year-old Tyrone Lawrence.
As police ask for help finding at least six suspects in their 20s, the victim's family is understandably traumatized, wondering how a trip to the corner deli almost turned deadly.
Anyone who has information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 or for Spanish, 1-888-577-4782. Tips can also be sent to the NYPDTips Twitter account or submitted online at NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.
