A Gang Fight In Scarsdale

If you’ve ever cautioned your teens not to take the last train home from Grand Central at night, have them read this story. A group of Scarsdale boys, ages 19 through 21 were at Grand Central Station in the early hours of August 19th planning to board the last train to Scarsdale at 1:56 am. While waiting for the train, they encountered another group of boys who seemed to be angling for a fight. One of the Scarsdale boys bumped a gang member and that started a verbal argument between the two groups.

They all got onto the train where the verbal sparring continued. When the train pulled into Scarsdale at 2:37 am, two of the Scarsdale boys exited the train there. They proceeded up the stairs and were crossing East Parkway near Chase Bank when they heard screams and found that two of the gang members were running toward them. The gang members beat up one of the boys and his friend intervened and was hit several times himself. According to one of the victims, it appeared that the gang might have called additional friends to meet them at the Scarsdale station.

Police were called at 2:43 am and some other Scarsdale young men saw the fight and got involved. When police arrived they found that four Scarsdale youths had been injured, primarily bruised in the face from being punched.

Three witnesses who were also on the train said that someone named “Eddie” had orchestrated the fight by making phone calls while he was still on the train. The four to seven additional gang members who appeared on East Parkway carried bats, a broomstick and a tire iron, which they used to attack the victims. All the gang members were described as being in their late teens or early twenties. Though the victim who spoke to Scarsdale10583 said he did not know the attackers, the police report indicates that the suspects were familiar to the victims.

The injured boys refused medical attention. Police found two bats, a broomstick-like object and a tire iron. One of the bats, found under the stair on the Depot Place side of the station had a name written on it and was stained with blood. It is believed that the suspects dropped these items as they fled.

Though police were not able to find the suspects that night, they will be reviewing MTA videotapes to look for the suspects.

Note: The information for the report above was compiled from an interview with one of the victims, a discussion with a representative from the Scarsdale Police Department and the official report filed by the Scarsdale Police.  If you were there and have a conflicting report on what occured, or would like to share your interpretation of the events, please do so in the comments section below or email scarsdalecomments@gmail.com.

Arrests: Police were called to Hampton Road on the afternoon of 8/19 about three men who were handing out materials and taking pictures of houses. The men did not have a permit and police asked them each for their driver’s license. When they scanned the licenses, they found that there was an outstanding warrant in Port Jervis for one of the men. Ben McCline of the Bronx was wanted by the Port Jervis Police for criminal mischief. He was taken into custody and picked up by the Port Jervis police.

At 7:42 am on 8/18, police stopped Henry Aguilar of Yonkers on Garth Road because the commercial truck he was driving did not have a rear license plate. A DMV check of the car’s VIN number and the driver’s license revealed that the plate was suspended and the driver’s license was suspended as well. The vehicle was towed and the driver was issued multiple summonses.

Runaway Car: A Claremont Road woman parked her car in her driveway on the afternoon of August 19th. However she left the car in neutral and failed to engage the parking brake. After she got out of the car, it rolled in reverse down her driveway, across the street and into the neighbor’s shrubs and house. It came to a stop next to the neighbor’s home, damaging the house and the shrubs.

Car break-in at Scarsdale Pool: A car belonging to a swim instructor at the Scarsdale Pool was vandalized while she was giving swimming lessons on the afternoon of August 16th. The passenger side window was broken and a black handbag was stolen.

On the afternoon of the 17th, two men posed as Scarsdale Police Officers to get access to the pool. They approached the attendant, flashed what appeared to be police badges and said they wanted to use the pool. The attendant looked at their driver’s licenses and let them go in. When the pool manager returned she confronted the two men and recognized one of them. They quickly left the pool and were gone before police arrived.

An iPod Touch and $25 in coins were taken out of an unlocked car parked on Paddington Road overnight on 8/17 – 8/18.

Dispute: Police were called to a Coralyn Road home on 8/19 to resolve a dispute between a divorced couple. The husband had arrived to take his daughter on a 2-week vacation but the couple was arguing about when the vacation should begin. When police arrived, the mother allowed the girl to leave with her father.

Birchall Road residents called police on 8/16 when they found an unknown car parked in their driveway. Turns out the car belonged to a building inspector for the Village of Scarsdale who was there to do an inspection.

Graffiti: On August 18, a patrolman noticed that a Village speed limit sign on Cushman Road had been defaced with black spray paint. Instead of saying, “Village Speed Limit 30, someone had used spray paint to fill in the number “3” so the sign read “Village Speed Limit 80.”

Bradford Road residents reported that someone had damaged their mailbox on the night of 8/17. The mailbox was dented and knocked over.

On 8/19 a contractor who is working at the house at 1 Duck Pond Road came to police to report that he received a threatening text message from one of his sub-contractors. The subcontractor warned the man that he better be at the site on Saturday to allow his equipment to be picked up. He threatened that if he wasn’t paid “it will cost you millions.”

Missing Girl: Greenburgh Police requested help from the Scarsdale Police in finding a missing 19 year-old girl at 2:18 am on 8/19. The girl was believed to be with a 25 year-old Scarsdale resident and police went to his house and asked the man’s family to locate him. They were unable to find him. Police were called to respond to the gang fight downtown at the same time so they gave up the hunt for the missing girl.

Missing Bike: On 8/21, a Chateaux Circle man reported that his bicycle, valued at $250, had been stolen from his basement storage unit.