Four women accused of attacking two others on the NYC subway while dressed in neon green full-body jumpsuits have been identified.
Emily Soto, 34, and 26-year-olds Mairam Cisse Issouf, Ciante Alston and Dariana Pegueroa are allegedly part of a group dubbed the “Green Goblin Gang,” who viciously hit two 19-year-old women on a Times Square subway train, the New York Post reported. The identities of four other suspects have not been revealed.
The victims, who were celebrating their birthdays, were also robbed of their bags and cellphone during the incident on 2 October.
During a press conference on Friday, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said that the suspects have at least 15 arrests between them. Peguero has the most with nine previous arrests, while Alston has three.
Soto has been detained twice and Issouf has one prior arrest. Mr Essig said the altercation began on the subway platform and spilled into the subway car.
“She said she was attacked by aliens, and I didn’t know what she was talking about,” the mother of one of the victims, who chose to remain anonymous, told The Post on Monday. “Yesterday was her birthday. This is how she spent her 19th birthday. I hope they get what they deserve and then some because it’s disgusting.”
The mother said that the victims were waiting to get on the train when they bumped into one of the attackers.
“My daughter, she had like five of the girls on her at one time,” the mom said, noting that her daughter and her friend “were both punched in the face,” she also told the Post.
“All these men sitting there taking videos and watching, and none of them helped while a group of ... women were beating two young girls,” the mother said of the other passengers.
One of the victims was in the city visiting her family from college. She was supposed to return to school on 3 October but is still recovering from her injuries and was until recently “in excruciating pain,” her mother said.
“When she breathes, it hurts. In one video, you can see the one girl kicked her and got her foot caught in my daughter’s purse strap. My daughter is tiny. She’s 5 foot 4. That one beast,” the mother said.
She said her daughter’s body was left covered in bruises, and had one bite mark through her clothes.
“They’re dressed in green in the middle of Times Square and commit such a heinous crime and think nobody knows who you are,” the mother also told the New York Daily News. “Whatever they have coming, they deserve.”
People with information about the attack are asked to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.
