Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams is offering a $1,000 reward, which he will personally fund, for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the brutal beating of a 15-year-old girl by four teenage girls inside a McDonald's on Flatbush Avenue near Erasmus Hall on Monday.
Video footage taken on someone's cell phone shows the girl being beaten to the ground inside McDonald's as dozens watched and cheered. The victim suffered two black eyes and bruises to her head, police sources said.
The video has gone viral and sparked worldwide outrage for the savage nature of the assault and the dozens of witnesses, including adults, who witnessed the incident but failed to intervene.
Police at the 70th Precinct have reviewed the video with officials at the high school but say the victim and her family have yet to file a complaint.
On Thursday, Borough President Adams; City Councilmember Mathieu Eugene, the chair of the Committee on Youth Services; and City Councilmember Laurie Cumbo, the chair of Women's Issues Committed, held a press conference outside of the McDonald's urging the community to come forward with information.
They also called for greater efforts to stem gang behavior, which is believed to be related to this event.
"The unwillingness of the victim and witnesses to cooperate with police investigators demonstrates the underlying fear and threat of gang violence that continues to plague the surrounding community and adversely affect our youth," said Cumbo. "I am concerned that this behavior sets a dangerous precedent that our young people can harm one other without any consequences."
Also, many in the community are questioning why no one in management at McDonald's attempted to break up the fight or intervene. The owner of the Flatbush McDonald's said in a statement following the incident: "The safety of my employees and customers is my top priority. In keeping with my restaurant policy, my employees contacted the police at the onset of this situation," he said.
"As part of the Flatbush community, I will continue to work with the NYPD and community leaders to ensure the safety of customers. Since this is now a under police investigation it would be inappropriate for me to comment further."
