VIDEO: 4 Suspects Sought In Brick Attack In North Philadelphia
By Dan Wing
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Detectives with the Philadelphia Police Department have released surveillance video in hopes that the public can help identify the group of teenage girls that hit a 19-year-old woman in the face with a brick as she walked with her boyfriend.
WATCH: Surveillance Video Via Philadelphia Police
Authorities say the woman was walking with her boyfriend on Norris Street around 6 p.m. on Friday when four girls, believed to be between 16 and 17-years-old, approached from behind. One of the girls hit the victim in the face with a brick at the intersection of 17th and Norris Streets, while the three other girls tried to rob the victim's boyfriend.
After the attack, the suspects ran and were last seen boarding a SEPTA bus headed south on 17th Street.
The victim was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital where she was treated for dislocated teeth and other injuries to her face.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey says his department is investigating this crime aggressively.
"It's kind of like what we saw with the phenomenon of the so-called flash mobs a few years ago. You get groups of kids together, they do things that in some cases they wouldn't otherwise normally do. But, there's no excuse for it. We find it, we're going to bring them in and deal with them accordingly."
Commissioner Ramsey says they work with Temple University Police to patrol the areas just off campus. And he says, whether the kids in the video realize it or not, they're facing very serious charges.
"We're going to charge them. If we find them, we will charge them. There's no question about that. They'll find out very quickly it's not funny."
Temple University also sent out a warning to students Monday night, several days after Friday's incident. It references "multiple off-campus assaults on Temple students west of Main Campus in the area of N. 17th Street" and also an attempted purse snatching by a pair of juvenile girls.
The email from Temple goes on to say that the University is assisting the investigation by reviewing surveillance video in the area.
Anyone with information should call Philadelphia Detectives at 215-686-3093, or call 911.
