14-year-old boy charged in attack of Philadelphia postal worker, as police seek more individuals
Video of the attack, shared on Facebook, shows a group of five males approaching the postal worker, who was pummeled and knocked to the ground.
A 14-year-old boy has been charged in last week’s attack on a Philadelphia mail carrier on a subway platform, and investigators are seeking at least two more individuals, police said Monday.
The teen surrendered to police Sunday evening and was released early Monday after being charged as a juvenile, Philadelphia Police Capt. Frank Banford said. The boy was charged with robbery, aggravated assault, and related offenses. He and his mother came forward after she saw her son’s photo on social media in connection with the assault, Banford said.
Police have identified an alleged second attacker, for whom they are seeking an arrest warrant, and are trying to identify a third, said Banford, captain of Central Detectives. Officers also want to speak to two other males who were at the scene, he said.
SEPTA Transit Police Chief Thomas J. Nestel III also sought the public’s help on Monday. “One attacker is in custody and another will be shortly,” Nestel tweeted. “Do you know the third?”
The attack took place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday on the Broad Street Line platform at the City Hall station.
Video of the attack, shared on Facebook, shows a group of five males approaching the postal worker, who is pummeled and knocked to the ground. The males continue to hit him after he falls. He can be heard saying that they are rummaging through his pockets.
Vaughn Summers, 25, another mail carrier, saw the video and realized the victim was a friend and fellow carrier, and shared the video. He said Saturday that the victim, whom he declined to identify, got a black eye and stitches under his top lip. The man, in his “late 20s or early 30s,” is at his Philadelphia home recovering, Summers said.
“He said he was waiting for the train and basically, out of nowhere, the kids were trying to get his bag, they were robbing him of his bag, but he held onto it,” said Summers, who noted it was the victim’s personal bag, not the one he uses to deliver letters.
Banford said the victim reported that his cell phone was missing.
Anyone with information is being asked to call Central Detectives at 215-686-3093.
Staff writers Mensah M. Dean and Vinny Vella contributed to this article.