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:mad: This is crazy.
By David Henry
SOUTH PHILADELPHIA June 1, 2009 (WPVI) --
For the second weekend in a row, teenagers attacked both people and property, causing a lot of damage to both. Police say word spread online for the teenagers to mass in the street.
This is the mini mart that got trashed. The mob left here and headed back toward South Street. Two blocks away, they came across a young couple in a Jeep who spoke exclusively with Action News about their terrifying ordeal. They asked us to conceal their faces and last names.
"Laying in that bed in the hospital thankful that I'm breathing, I'm alive," said Nick.
Nick and his girlfriend Susanne were in a Jeep, stopped at the light on Broad Street. Earlier in the night the teens had marauded through South Street, carjacking a cab and crashing it, jumping on the hoods and roofs of other cars.
They went up Broad Street and swept through a mini-mart, completely trashing it. Then they found Susanne and Nick.
"I got really scared for the fact that there were so many of them and they were literally everywhere, everywhere I looked there were people and they were just beating and cursing and yelling and they were in front of my car, on the side of my car pounding on the windows," Susanne described.
Susanne says the first mistake she made was getting out of the car.
"They threw a bag of chips at me and a water bottle and when I turned to get back in my car they grabbed me by my hair and pulled me down and just started kicking and punching me."
Nick tried to help, but he was pummeled to the ground.
"As soon as I exited the car to grab her I was hit from all directions and on the ground covering my face up from being kicked."
Both spent the night in the hospital getting treated for cuts and bruises.
This is at least the second rampage incident over the past two weeks.
Another couple was attacked last weekend at Broad and Walnut.
Police say the teenagers use social websites and text messages to announce gatherings and then assemble from all corners.
When Susanne was attacked, one of the first people she called was her mother in North Carolina. Trish Grant hopped the next plane out.
"To think of someone pulling your daughter by her hair and dragging her on concrete pavement is uh it makes you angry you know it makes you very angry as a parent."
The police acknowledge this is a growing problem. They are looking into a possible connection to a nearby Junior High School, and are also looking at a social networking website. They're hoping to be able to head off any further trouble.
By David Henry
SOUTH PHILADELPHIA June 1, 2009 (WPVI) --
For the second weekend in a row, teenagers attacked both people and property, causing a lot of damage to both. Police say word spread online for the teenagers to mass in the street.
This is the mini mart that got trashed. The mob left here and headed back toward South Street. Two blocks away, they came across a young couple in a Jeep who spoke exclusively with Action News about their terrifying ordeal. They asked us to conceal their faces and last names.
"Laying in that bed in the hospital thankful that I'm breathing, I'm alive," said Nick.
Nick and his girlfriend Susanne were in a Jeep, stopped at the light on Broad Street. Earlier in the night the teens had marauded through South Street, carjacking a cab and crashing it, jumping on the hoods and roofs of other cars.
They went up Broad Street and swept through a mini-mart, completely trashing it. Then they found Susanne and Nick.
"I got really scared for the fact that there were so many of them and they were literally everywhere, everywhere I looked there were people and they were just beating and cursing and yelling and they were in front of my car, on the side of my car pounding on the windows," Susanne described.
Susanne says the first mistake she made was getting out of the car.
"They threw a bag of chips at me and a water bottle and when I turned to get back in my car they grabbed me by my hair and pulled me down and just started kicking and punching me."
Nick tried to help, but he was pummeled to the ground.
"As soon as I exited the car to grab her I was hit from all directions and on the ground covering my face up from being kicked."
Both spent the night in the hospital getting treated for cuts and bruises.
This is at least the second rampage incident over the past two weeks.
Another couple was attacked last weekend at Broad and Walnut.
Police say the teenagers use social websites and text messages to announce gatherings and then assemble from all corners.
When Susanne was attacked, one of the first people she called was her mother in North Carolina. Trish Grant hopped the next plane out.
"To think of someone pulling your daughter by her hair and dragging her on concrete pavement is uh it makes you angry you know it makes you very angry as a parent."
The police acknowledge this is a growing problem. They are looking into a possible connection to a nearby Junior High School, and are also looking at a social networking website. They're hoping to be able to head off any further trouble.
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