Police say they have arrested three more girls in a vicious gang assault on a girl inside a Brooklyn McDonald's that sparked public outrage when cellphone video of the attack went viral, and a fourth has been apprehended in Atlanta.
A 17-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl were arrested in Brooklyn Friday on robbery and gang assault charges after they turned themselves in to police, according to the NYPD.
Another 16-year-old girl turned herself in on Saturday morning to face the same charges. She's expected to be charged as an adult.
A fourth teen was taken into custody in Atlanta at the airport Friday as she sat on a plane that was set to head to Jamaica, a law enforcement official told NBC 4 New York. The NYPD alerted local authorities there, and they were able to take the girl off the plane before it departed.
She's expected to be charged once she's brought back to New York, police said.
Cops arrested the alleged ringleader in the Monday brawl, 16-year-old Aniah Ferguson, earlier in the week. She was arraigned Friday on charges of robbery and gang assault, and is being charged as an adult.
Ferguson has been arrested half a dozen times since September on various offenses, including for allegedly attacking a pregnant woman in an emergency room and her own grandmother, records show.
In court Thursday, Ferguson's public defender said the teen has been attending counseling once a week for the past year in an effort to "better her life." Prosecutors allege she was the ringleader in the McDonald's beatdown and stole the victim's bag, makeup and phone after the attack.
They also allege she is part of the Young Savages gang, a violent group known to be involved in patterns of violence and credit card scams.
Ferguson, who lives with her mother and grandmother she has been accused of attacking, was ordered held on $500,000 bail. She also has a 1-year-old daughter. None of the three attended her arraignment Friday.
Video of the McDonald's attack, which was posted on Facebook, shows four girls, all believed to be Erasmus Hall High School students, repeatedly punching and kicking another teen wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt while throngs of bystanders shout in the background.
The larger group continues to attack the teen in the blue sweatshirt, even pulling out her hair extensions, until the girl huddles underneath a table with her hands over her head. At one point, one of the girls in the group stomps on the victim's head. The victim suffered a concussion, bruises and contusions, according to a criminal complaint.
At several points during the fight, bystanders can be heard saying, "She’s dead," and, "You murdered her."
The video ends with several students picking the girl up off the ground and putting her on a bench.
Police initially said the investigation had been hampered by a lack of cooperating witnesses, including the girl in the blue sweatshirt in her mother, but NBC 4 New York learned Friday that the victim had come forward to file a police report.
The Department of Education, meanwhile, called the actions seen in the video "abhorrent."
Photo Credit: NBC 4 New York