News

Actions

Watch: New York man armed with bicycle seat defends teen attacked by group of people

Posted at 6:30 PM, Mar 31, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-31 20:30:23-04

NEW YORK — Surveillance video from a Brooklyn bodega shows a good Samaritan armed with a bike seat fighting off a group of men as they attacked and robbed a teen.

The group, armed with knives and a metal pipe, brutally beat a 17-year-old teen in front of a Bushwick bodega and stole his moped, police said. When 43-year old Vincent Millan spotted what was happening, he rushed outside with Bronx murder victim Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz on his mind.

“I held the door and was yelling 'you’re not gonna get in here, you’re not going to do this to this kid today,'” Millan said. “They were really being aggressive and they had bad intentions for that kid."

The group beat Millan.

“They were breaking things over my back, smashing me in my face with metal rods,” he said. “They almost ended my life that day.”

Millan, who'd just returned to the Knickerbocker Avenue bodega after biking across the Williamsburg Bridge, fought back with his bike seat.

He had to get eight stitches on the back of his head, but said he'd still do it all over again.

“I don’t regret stopping them from getting their hands on that kid, I’m a human being. Human beings should not be treating each other like this,” he said.

Six attackers were involved in the wild incident, police said. They have arrested two so far. A 16-year-old suspect, who was not named, is charged with robbery, criminal possession of stolen property, unlawful possession of marijuana, motorcycle helmet violation, unlicensed operator violation, leaving the scene of an accident violation and driving the wrong direction on one-way violation. Ramon Garcia-Disla, 26, was charged with robbery, gang assault and assault.

The teen who was on the moped was not seriously hurt.