According to authorities, when three adolescent females trespassed on the front yard of a 62-year-old man’s home on the 200 block of Glenwood Avenue in Syracuse, New York, the man approached the youngsters and gently requested them not to sit on his property. Sadly, the girls were not pleased when the guy told them to get off his property.
The suggestion clearly did not sit well with the girls, as a dispute developed between the teenagers and the 62-year-old man with a cane. What transpired next, in fact, resulted in the arrest of two of the juvenile females, and it was all recorded on cell phone video by a witness and shared on Facebook.
The 62-year-old guy is seen standing with a cane between two girls in the cell phone film, which seems to begin after the homeowner originally ordered the adolescents to leave his yard. A voice can be heard saying, “He’s scary, cuz!” What occurred next, though, is absolutely terrifying. She smacks him in the face before escaping into the street as the guy leans down to presumably say something to one of the adolescents.
The second female seems to grab him from behind before twisting him around while the man follows her. He then starts jogging while flailing his cane, before losing his balance and tumbling to the pavement. The youngsters burst out laughing as they yelled and screamed in celebration of his misery. The girls’ joy, however, would be fleeting.
While the video concludes with the guy getting up and running towards the gathering of teenagers, the situation was far from done. Officer Matthew Tynan of the Syracuse Police Department responded to a complaint of an attack, where the man stated to the officer he was assaulted in the face and head not once, but twice, by the two females shown in the video after he respectfully requested them to leave his yard.
Originally, cops were unable to locate the culprits, so the case was handed over to investigators from the Syracuse City School District. The next day, Detectives Chris Hodell and Ken Albro were on their way to find the two girls, aged 14 and 15. While the investigators did not specify how they were able to identify the females, the footage of the confrontation is most likely to blame.
The two teenagers were detained and charged with misdemeanor third-degree assault. The girls were returned to their parents with tickets to appear in family court, but their identities were not made public owing to their ages.
The man in the video the day after the incident, had a bruised eye. While he refused to reveal what caused the incident due to the ongoing investigation, he did add that the video had reached relatives as far away as Ireland as it went viral on numerous social media sites, including Facebook, where it swiftly accumulated about a million views.
The mother of one of the girls in the video confessed that what her daughter was observed doing was inappropriate and uncalled for. The mother also said that her daughter takes responsibility for the consequences of her conduct and apologized to the 62-year-old guy.
While the conclusion of the case is uncertain, we can guess that these teenagers received more than they bargained for when they attacked the elderly guy. The broader public may not recognize their names, but their friends, family, and community do. Therefore, let this be a lesson to future generations. Because of the power of social media, one wrong choice might result in a life-long reputation. Before reacting, make sure you’re okay with your actions becoming viral. After all, this is hardly the kind of conduct that someone should be recognized for.
