Quantcast

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

Alleged Beater in Vicious Village Attack Won't Rat Out Friends, Lawyer Says

By Andrea Swalec | January 18, 2013 4:08pm

MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT — Only two of the seven men suspected of beating a 24-year-old man with baseball bats last weekend have been arrested, but one of the men has told his lawyer he won't rat out his friends.

Hatem Farsakh, who was hit with attempted murder charges in connection to the MacDougal Street attack that left Kevin McCarron with a fractured skull, has said he was present during the brutal beating but has not revealed who else was there, his lawyer said Friday morning.

"He has no plans yet to talk with prosecutors," defense attorney James Kirshner said.

Farsakh, a 24-year-old Brooklyn resident who Kirshner said has no criminal record, wore a dark suit and appeared stricken during a brief appearance in Manhattan Criminal Court, where he was joined by his parents.

The second suspect, 22-year-old Sherif Rizk, also made a brief court appearance Friday. Both men are charged with attempted murder and gang assault, and are out on bail. Farsakh faces an additional charge of armed assault with intent to cause serious injury.

"By all accounts, he's a good kid who got mixed up in the wrong thing," Kirshner said of Farsakh.

Rizk's lawyer declined to speak to reporters, and it was not clear whether Rizk was cooperating with prosecutors.

Sources told DNAinfo.com New York that Farsakh, Rizk and friends approached McCarron and a group of his buddies who had attended Providence College about 5 a.m. Sunday. A war of words ensued and the Providence bunch tried to defuse the situation by walking away. But Farsakh's group wouldn't retreat, the sources said.

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

Farsakh's group then popped the trunk of a car they rode in and pulled out a bat and other weapons, which Farsakh and his friends used to pummel McCarron and his friends outside 95 MacDougal St., police said.

Farsakh is due back in court April 15, and Rizk is set to appear April 16.