Overview
- Roughly 40 to 50 cars converged on South Drive and 141st Street in Malba just after midnight Nov. 23, doing donuts and drag-racing on a residential block.
- A couple who confronted the group were assaulted, with the man hospitalized and the woman punched, and an unoccupied Ford Fusion was set on fire and extinguished by the FDNY.
- Police say their response was delayed roughly 25 to 45 minutes because units in the 109th Precinct were tied up with multiple higher-priority incidents.
- The initial 911 reports were treated as drag racing before being upgraded to a higher-priority criminal mischief call, and no arrests have been announced.
- The NYPD has released images of persons of interest and requested Crime Stoppers tips, and officials pledged increased coverage in Malba, including four dedicated patrol cars and calls for traffic-calming measures.