EAST WILLIAMSBURG — An 11-year-old autistic boy was beaten and robbed in a local playground where the NYPD recently increased its presence due to complaints of teen rowdiness, according to police.
The boy, 11, was riding his bicycle in the playground in Lindsay Park, near Leonard Street and Montrose Avenue, on Monday, May 4 at 4 p.m. when he was approached by a teenage boy and a 20-year-old man, police said.
The teen, who was about 6 feet tall and 14 years old, approached the victim and hit him in the face with a metal stick, police said.
The man, about 6 feet tall, also hit him with a metal stick, causing bruising and pain to the right side of the victim’s face, police said.
The teen then pushed the boy off his BMX bicycle while the other suspect took the boy’s helmet, police said.
Both of them fled the scene. The bicycle and helmet were worth more than $300 together, police said.
It’s the second time a violent incident has occurred in the area since the police declared it part of a “safe corridor” and increased their presence due to complaints that rowdy young people flood the park after school.
On April 23, a 13-year-old girl was threatened with a knife and beaten with an umbrella by three other teens in the park. It's unclear what sparked the attack, and police are still investigating.
Locals previously told DNAinfo New York that the number of regular fights in the area have decreased significantly as a result of the safe corridor, where police increase their presence and students can walk into local businesses to feel safe.
But the April knife incident surprised police and locals, who said it was unusual for weapons to enter the equation.
Other notable incidents in the 90th Precinct include:
► A woman received a call from a man who claimed that he'd kill her son unless she paid him, while her son was unharmed and at work, police said.
The woman, 58, said she got the call at her home on Keap Street near South Third Street on Sunday, May 10 — Mother's Day — around 12 p.m. police said.
"We have your son. If you don't give us $1,000, we are going to kill him," a man said in Spanish, according to police.
The woman said she could hear an unknown man screaming in the background, as well as noises that indicated that they were allegedly cutting off her son's finger, police said.
The man gave her instructions to go to a Western Union Branch with the money, police said. The woman went to the 90th Precinct and eventually got in touch with her son, who was at work and unharmed, police said.
► A man was walking in Williamsburg when a man attempted to rob him by saying, "Walk with me and give me your money," police said.
The victim, 28, was walking on Wallabout Street near Harrison Avenue on Thursday, May 7 around 10:15 a.m. when a man approached him from behind and spoke in a threatening manner, police said.
The victim started to scream, and the suspect fled southwest, toward the Marcy houses.
