Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Critically Injured College Grad Tried to Avoid Village Fight, Sources Say

By  Murray Weiss and Andrea Swalec | January 17, 2013 7:26am 

 Providence College graduate Kevin McCarron was in critical condition after being brutally beaten by a gang in Greenwich Village Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013.
Providence College graduate Kevin McCarron was in critical condition after being brutally beaten by a gang in Greenwich Village Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013.
View Full Caption
Facebook/kmccarron44

GREENWICH VILLAGE — The victim of a savage attack on MacDougal Street and his friends tried to walk away from a confrontation with another group over the weekend — but the alleged attackers, armed with baseball bats and other weapons, pounced on them anyway, law enforcement sources said.

The brutal beating, which left Kevin McCarron, 24, hospitalized with a fractured skull, occurred early Sunday after a reunion of seven graduates from Providence College, sources said. After a night on the town, the group stopped by Artichoke Pizza and headed toward the subway to sleep at one of the pals' homes in posh Dobbs Ferry.

That's when the other group of men, who were standing near a car, shouted at them, sources said. A war of words ensued, but the Providence bunch tried to defuse the heated altercation by walking away.

But the other men — which included Hatem Farsakh, 24, and Sherif Rizk, 22, both of Brooklyn — didn't let it go, the sources said.

"We are going to f--- you up," one of the alleged attackers said to McCarron and friends, sources said.

That man then popped the trunk of the car and pulled out a bat and other weapons, which he and his friends used to pummel McCarron and his friends outside 95 MacDougal St., police said

After McCarron went unconscious, the suspects jumped into the car and fled, sources said.

McCarron, an Andover, Mass., resident, was rushed to New York Hospital, where he remained in critical condition, cops said Wednesday.

An I.T. recruiter, McCarron graduated from Providence in 2011 with a degree in public and community services studies, according to his LinkedIn profile. In college, he participated in a Catholic church's ministry for "the study and practice of nonviolence."

McCarron's friends and family members asked their Facebook friends to keep the former high school hockey star in their prayers.

"This is horrible to hear/read about, never mind seeing a photo and video," one commenter wrote. "Definitely in my prayers."

Farsakh and Rizk were arrested earlier this week in connection with the attack. Both men were charged with attempted murder, assault and gang assault, police said.

Five other suspects are being sought, authorities said Wednesday.