A group of masked Massachusetts teenagers rushed into a McDonald’s and attacked an employee behind the counter, according to cellphone video of the chaotic incident.
Four teenagers were arrested in connection with the violent incident in Lynn, roughly 10 miles north of Boston, on Sept. 18 after a local football game ended, WHDH reported.
Video recorded inside the restaurant shows a large group entering the McDonald’s before two teenagers allegedly assault one of the workers.
Several teenagers, some wearing masks, surrounded the employee and repeatedly punched him. One then appeared to place the worker in a chokehold and hold him against the drive-thru window.
The McDonald’s franchisee told the outlet that the employee was safe following the assault.
The Lynn Police Department opened an investigation after videos of the attack spread rapidly on social media.
Detectives from the department’s Youth Services Unit, with assistance from the gang unit and drug task force, identified four teenagers allegedly involved in the assault. Police said on Facebook Wednesday that warrants were then obtained for their arrests.
All four suspects were taken into custody and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, trespassing, affray and civil rights violation with injury, police said.
In legal terms, affray refers to a public fight that causes fear or alarm among bystanders.
The teenagers are being held at a juvenile detention facility while awaiting court appearances, according to police.
Because of the suspects’ ages, police have not released their identities while the “active and ongoing” investigation continues.
Investigators are still working to identify additional people who may have taken part in the attack.
Police are also examining two other incidents involving large groups of teenagers over the weekend. Authorities have not disclosed where the second incident occurred, but said only the McDonald’s episode became violent.
The incident has left the Lynn community shaken, including Mayor Jared Nicholson.
“As a father, community member and mayor, I’m deeply concerned by the incidents involving young people in our community this weekend. The Lynn Police Department is actively investigating both incidents, and I have confidence that those responsible will be held accountable,” Nicholson wrote on Facebook Tuesday.
Nicholson said his office has “expanded youth-focused investments in public safety, mental health, workforce development and education,” while continuing to have difficult conversations about what young people need from the community.
“We will continue to address violence when it occurs, hold individuals accountable and, just as importantly, work together to give our young people the support, structure and opportunities they need to succeed,” the mayor wrote.
Nearby resident Charlie Stevens said in all his years living in Lynn, he’s never seen such unprovoked violence from young people.
“It’s just nuts because I was born and raised in this city. I don’t know, it’s just crazy,” Stevens told WHDH.
Another Lynn resident, Phillip Howlant, echoed Stevens’ concerns about the youth in the community.
“It’s sad that the youth don’t have what we had in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, you know?” Howlant told the outlet.
“They don’t have the work ethic, they don’t grow up with understanding that you behave and you listen to olders, and you don’t do stuff like going to McDonald’s and doing that.”
