Two 16-year-old boys were robbed and beaten up in Anderson Park last night before being taken to the hospital, Montclair Police say. They say a group of six or seven black men attacked them and took $30.
Montclair Police are investigating a strong-arm robbery that occurred on June 29th, shortly after 9:30 p.m. in Anderson Park. Two 16-year-old males from Clifton were walking in the park when (6) to (7) seven black males wearing white athletic t-shirts and shorts approached them and began striking them with their hands and feet. One of the suspects yelled to the victims “just give us the money.” The victims each turned over money totaling $ 30.00 dollars to the suspects. The suspects then fled the area on foot running south through the park. The parents of both victims were contacted and responded to the scene. Both victims were then treated by MVAU and transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital. The victim’s injuries consisted of cuts and scrapes to the chin and head. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Juvenile Aid Bureau at 973-509-4751. Due to the incident occurring in the county park, the Essex County Sheriff’s Department was contacted and did respond to the scene.
Very unsettling…Glad the kids didn’t suffer more serious injuries.
It’s the psychological damage that will linger long after the cuts and bruises will heal. These boys are now irrevocably altered in a fundamental way that only those who have experienced this kind of incident can understand.
Truly disgusting. I’d put them all in an unlit locked room with carnivorous insects given the chance.
If they want to act like a pack of wild animals, they should be treated like one (if caught and convicted).
We catch and convict packs of wild animals? I thought we just shot them straight up.
Were the cops called before they were brought to the hospital?
No, the cops were engaged in real police work: Click or Ticket and bike line safety. Weeeee!
Yikes, I feel like I need to start carrying mace just to take my dog on a walk at night. I was already nervous after encountering a really creepy man the other week while walking her at night.
What do you expect when bike lanes are more important than public safety.
I hope the kids are OK.
I wonder if the two victims tried to talk with their aggressors. Maybe this was just some kind cultural misunderstanding that could have been addressed peacefully through open dialogue.
i wish it was like the movies…the 2 attacked kids were actually trained in the martial arts…and in turn broke bones on all of the miscreants.
Bernard Goetz. The Other Bernard. Maybe time for me to start carrying my P-30L.
You are right on, Aflarfin
A “major mugging?” Are there classifications? Because $30 is hardly a major sum, save perhaps to 16-year-olds.
Or did you perhaps mean the offense of battery?
I feel for these kids and there parents. PTSD can hard to deal with and the parents should be cautious of the long term effects like the Prof said.
This is bad, I live on Godfrey between Anderson and Edgemont Parks. Crime seems to be on the rise in Montclair. Our Mayor and some council members are OK with giving teachers all the money in the world, but would consider furloughs and police budgets decreasing. Way out of line in my opinion!
This is a quote from Jerry Fried from an email he sent me as a reply to questions about the Budget that was recently passed. It goes to my point about the BOE getting unlimited dollars while considering cuts to the other 40% of Municipal Budget which includes Police Fire, and Public Works!
“Dear Mr. Marinowich,
We’ll just have to disagree on a few things. First of all, it’s the administration that is not up to the task of reducing taxes. I would have been happy with furloughs or other cuts in services but no serious attempt was made to change the way we deliver services. Several of my fellow Council Members only wanted to consider the few tweaks the Manager proposed. If I were you I’d focus my efforts on those Council Members who are happy with the choices the manager has given us.
Laying the blame solely at the feet of the School Board or Board of School Estimate is also not the answer. The schools have far LESS flexibility in reducing costs than the Municipal Government. The school budget was the lowest increase in ten years. There is a lot of work to do on the budget but it’ll take some new members to change things. The choices in front of the schools this year had mostly to do with increasing class sizes. We will definitely disagree over the relative importance of funding our schools adequately. As far as a revaluation goes, the tax rate would have to change, but the tax collected wouldn’t. If we kept a flat budget, you’d still pay the same in 2010 as 2009.”
I guess Education sits higher on Mr. Fried’s list of importance than say SAFETY of the citizens of Montclair!
Kyle
Upper Montclair, the new Irvington.
miscthree– You figure out how you, me, or anybody else can get a CCW permit in this state and I’ll buy you dinner every night for the rest of the year…
Dead serious.
No, Bloomfield Center IS the new Irvington. Actually there are more open and thriving stores in Irvington Center than ther are in Bloomfield Center.
What were the Clifton residents doing in Anderson Park at 9:30 at night?
Clifton isn’t that far away from the park. Maybe they were meeting some friends or just having a nice walk.
Hey kids, watch your back and don’t be afraid to run if you spot potential danger.
Spot, they were mugging people. That’s what. And I agree with Kyle. The school budget overall may not have lot of flexibility but Alvarez and the other administrators earning good salaries could have been asked, or persuaded, to allow for a change in their contracts just for this year alone that would have kept those salaries flat. When there is a $110mm budget on the table even a 2% cut goes a long way. It goes a lot further than a bigger cut in the municipal budget which does impact upon our lives.
For the amount of money I pay in taxes, I do expect the town to deliver services. I also expect our elected officials to keep the school budget in check and ask people like Alvarez to suck it up and live on his measly pay for another year.
Oh, just realized it was the Clifton boys who got mugged. Mellon is right, it’s a short walk or bike ride to Clifton.
Ah…reminds me of the ’80’s when “Wilding” was so popular in the city. Maybe all this Michael Jackson talk has made people yern for for day’s of old. Anyone remember Al Sharpton? Is he still alive?
Is overtheridge kidding or what?!?
“The schools have far LESS flexibility in reducing costs than the Municipal Government”… BULLSH^T. Then why did all of the school administrators get raises added onto their (already) fat six-figure salaries? That move was approved unanimously by the BOE (which Mayor Fried is a member of).
Also – it is hard to believe that letter is a response from the Mayor of Montclair to one of his constituents…the tone of it is just so arrogant! Amazing….
Just a bit of history…Anderson Park has a long history of “incidents” at night, going back to the days of Bonds Ice Cream. A lot people were happy to see Bond’s go because of “incidents” involving teenagers who hung around outside of Bond’s at night.
Dealing of drugs, specifically in Anderson Park, was common.
I used to live near Anderson Park and I remember signs about the park being closed after sunset. Has that changed?
That’s what I’m telling my kids, Mellon: be vigilant, and don’t be prideful. If your gut tells you some kids are trouble, act on it and head the other way.
Walleroo, I grew up in East Orange in th 60’s and these kinds of attacks were commonplace. I found that sometimes just crossing the street to avoid a group of ‘boys’ would be enough. They might hurl insults at me or even, believe it or not, tell me to come over to them. I just kept moving and if any of them started in my direction I’d ‘fly’. I was lucky because there were only a handful of people in East Orange that were faster runners than me. As a sophmore, I had 4.6 speed in the 40 and was running sub 5:00 miles that year too. The track coach told me I had the potential to be one of the fastest milers in the state if I kept up at it. .. the rest is another story.
What ever happened to Neighborhood watch? Carry a flashlight, a whistle or air horn and some mace. Now, go for a walk
Jimmy, I agree and don’t go alone.
Funny how this Major Mugging makes no mention of “Upper” Montclair.
But any positive event, in the area of Montclair, North of Watchung, sometimes gets called, “Upper” Montclair.
Kyle,
Let’s not forget Bike Boy’s stand on keeping the Belleuve library open. If we closed it, the town can save $500,000 dollars. It would be cheaper to give every resident a Barnes and noble gift card
His plan to defend the town is if you get mugged, ride your bike over to the library and take out a book on self defense
Bloomfield Center is not the new Irvington. A few businesses have moved locations due to the tear down but they haven’t fled the area. There are shoppers at the stores and there are patrons at the restaurants. Sorry if they don’t measure up to some set standard, but they are there and they are spending.
Now let’s have a few more stories of the crime in Montclair to read while discussing how terrible the Center is and how it’s the new Newark, Orange, EO or whatever.