HELL'S KITCHEN — A group of bike-riding teens terrorized a street vendor on 11th Avenue, punching him in the head, stealing various merchandise and brazenly shouting, "We are going to take your s--t," authorities said.
The 53-year-old vendor, from The Bronx, was sitting in a chair next to his table in front of 51 Food Market at 721 11th Ave., at the corner of West 51st Street, on July 28 when a group of more than 10 teens on bicycles rode up to him, he told DNAinfo on Thursday.
One of the teens snatched a pair of socks from his table before the group pedaled off toward West 50th Street, he said.
“I followed him,” said the vendor, who declined to give his name.
He wasn’t able to catch up to them, so he returned to his table, he said.
The next day, the vendor had set up shop in the same place around 9:20 p.m. when the same group of teens surrounded him, according to the the NYPD and a complaint filed with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
He left his table and eventually fled inside the 51 Food Market, he and the complaint said.
As he hid inside, the teens surrounded the market, shouting, “We are going to take your s--t,” among other threats, prosecutors said.
Video surveillance from the scene showed a few of the teens stealing belts and other items from the vendor's table, the DA's office said.
Not long after, one of the teens punched the vendor in the head and back, he and prosecutors said. It wasn't immediately clear whether the attack happened inside or outside the deli.
“I said, 'What happened? You want to fight me?'” the vendor recalled Thursday.
He called 911, but the teens had scattered by the time police arrived, he said.
One of the officers told him to call 911 if the teens came back.
A few hours later, the group returned to the vendor’s corner, knocking a sign next to his chair down and saying they wanted to fight him, the vendor said.
He fled inside the store again and called 911, he said.
“[Police] came very fast, because I called before,” the vendor said.
Five of the teens were arrested in connection with the incident, the DA’s office said.
A 14-year-old boy, a 15-year-old boy, a 16-year-old boy and an 18-year-old boy were each charged with three counts of robbery in the second degree, the complaint said.
The 18-year-old and other unidentified teens were caught on the store’s surveillance camera stealing items from the table, the DA’s office said.
A 17-year-old boy was charged with three counts of robbery and one count of assault after punching, slapping and shoving a police officer as the officer tried to arrest him, leaving the officer’s hand swollen and in pain, the complaint said.
The 14-year-old, the 15-year-old and the 18-year-old were released on July 30, and the 16-year-old was released the following day, the DA’s office said.
The 17-year-old who struck the police officer was released on $2,500 bail Tuesday, according to the DA’s office and city Department of Correction records.
All of the teens were expected to appear in court on Thursday, the DA’s office said.
Attorneys for the teens did not respond to requests for comment.
The vendor, who has sold T-shirts, socks, belts and hats at that corner for five out of his 17 years as a vendor on 11th Avenue, said he wasn’t seriously injured by the attack.
“I’m OK. I’m not in pain too much,” he said. “This is the first time it has happened to me here.”
He isn’t worried that an incident like this one will happen again, he said.
“I know myself. I’m a good person, and I have a lot of kids myself,” he said. “In this area, many people know me — I don’t give trouble for nobody.”
