Updated 08/01/2010 05:18 PM
Police Investigate 10th Bias Attack In Port Richmond
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
Police say a 17-year-old Mexican boy was attacked early Saturday morning on Staten Island in what authorities are calling the 10th bias case in the borough.
The teen was returning from work at a Manhattan restaurant around 2:30 a.m. when he was jumped by two teenagers near a bus stop on Castleton Avenue and Simonson Place in Port Richmond.
According to police, the teens shouted anti-Mexican statements as they hit him. The victim was also allegedly robbed of $10.
He was transported to Richmond University Medical Center with minor injuries.
During a Spanish-language mass Sunday at St. Mary of the Assumption in Port Richmond, the priest urged the mostly-Mexican congregation to speak out against any racially motivated violence.
"I was telling them that we don't have to fear to denounce all evil. We have to be a community that is organized against any crime because we are people who are an immigrant population," said Reverend Hernan Paredes of St. Mary of the Assumption.
Due to the recent wave of attacks, the New York City Police Department has increased their presence in the neighborhood.
The department has also brought in several Mexican-born officers to interact with the community.
"People are frightened. They're scared to go out. I mean, it's a scary thought. You leave your house, you get attacked out of nowhere," said Port Richmond resident Emmanual Martinez.
"I am sad and I am scared [for] my father, my brother. They hate us, that's how I feel," said Port Richmond resident Jennifer Martinez.
Despite the added patrols, community organizers say they are still worried about the trend.
"This latest attack is extremely disturbing because it is not only an act of violence but it's also an act of defiance, defiance of a community that is putting it's best effort forward to look for ways to build relationship, make peace and create a safer neighborhood. In particular, this act was against a young person, an underage person and that sets a new level of assault here," said Terry Troia of Project Hospitality.
"It's just that we have on both sides, we have certain people that don't know how to be respectful who and decent contributive members of society and making it bad for others," said Port Richmond resident Nick Estevez.
No arrests have been made in the latest attack.
A total of 10 attacks in the area have been labeled bias crimes since April.
Six people have been arrested so far in connection with three of those attacks.