Former governor David Paterson and his 20-year-old stepson were walking the family dog on Manhattan’s Upper East Side Friday night when they were attacked. New York City police describe it as an incident that started out as a “verbal altercation” before it turned violent.
Paterson says his stepson – Anthony Sliwa – told some kids to come down from a fire escape. Then it escalated.
“He (Anthony) was pretty badly injured in the, the confrontation,” said Paterson. “And he’s walking around and I think, more than anything he’s shellshocked that the incident happened.”
Two adults intervened, along with the kids and as Paterson recalls – most of them went after his stepson – but he was also struck.
“I got punched in the face a couple of times, and I got punched in the shoulder but the person who punched me on the shoulder, I threw them against the McDoanld’s window myself.”
Paterson served as governor of New York State from 2008 to 2010. He was the state’s first African American governor – and the nation’s first partially blind governor.
ABC News reported Sunday night two boys, ages 12 and 13, have been arrested and charged in the street attack on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
The two children, whose names were not released, were arrested around 8 p.m. Saturday after turning themselves in at a police precinct with their parents, the New York Police Department said.
A third child initially wanted in the attack also turned themself in but was not charged after officers determined he was not involved, officials said.
The 12-year-old suspect was arrested on a charge of second-degree gang assault while the 13-year-old was charged with third-degree gang assault, according to the NYPD.
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