Monday, Mariam Issouf, 26, of Queens, turned herself in to police.
After turning herself in, an alleged member of the ‘Green Goblin’ gang of female thieves, which robbed and terrorized two teenagers on the New York City subway, was arrested.
Mariam Issouf, 26, of Queens, turned herself in on Monday after police identified her as one of the suspects in the horrifying attack on Friday.
She arrived with her attorney and was charged with robbery, according to the New York Post.
Emily Soto, 34, Ciante Alston, 26, and Dariana Peguero, both 26 years old, have also been identified as alleged gang members. The four have a total of 15 arrests, according to authorities.
According to NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig, all four suspects reside in the New York City Housing Authority’s Queensboro Houses.
Peguero has the most arrests with nine, followed by Aston with three and Soto with two. All three suspects remain at large, and the identities of the remaining members of the gang remain unknown. Issouf had been arrested only once before.
The horrifying attack comes at a time when robberies in New York City have increased by a shocking 36% since last year.
Four members of the gang have been identified by police; collectively, they have 15 prior arrests.
Two teenage girls were swung around, stomped, and punched by the green-clad group on a N train in New York City around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday.
As the innocent girls were beaten and robbed, bystanders did not attempt to intervene; instead, they recorded the incident.
They are wanted in connection with the brutal assault and robbery of two 19-year-old girls at the conclusion of a Saturday night out on October 2.
The pair were waiting for the N train in Times Square at around 2.00am when a group of at least six women in bright green costumes charged down the station stairs.
The teens backed away and chose to enter a separate train car than the group that was ‘loud and obnoxious,’ according to one of the girls’ mothers.
But the green-clad group poured into the train from every entrance and ultimately ‘jumped’ the two young women.
A mother of one of the victims told the New York Daily News that there had been no prior negative interaction between the girls and the group.
‘They just jumped.’
‘My daughter’s words were, they bum rushed them. I asked, ‘Why? Did you say something?’ She said, ‘I wish I did, because then there would be a reason for what happened to me,’ she told the outlet.
The violent and unprovoked altercation, which was posted to Reddit, shows the two teenagers getting kicked repeatedly, punched, and thrown around the train car as onlookers film the incident but do not intervene or attempt to help.
‘They video instead of calling 911. It’s so disturbing for me as my mother that this is the world we live in.’
‘My daughter is literally getting beat while all these bystanders just stood there. Maybe police would’ve gotten there faster if someone called 911,’ said the mother.
The crew took credit cards, a phone, and a wallet from the girls before exiting the scene.
‘Thankfully my daughter is here. It could have been so much worse. These people belong in cages,’ she said. ‘Animals belong behind bars. Make an example of them.’
Both young women were treated at a hospital for their injuries, which included a concussion, bite marks, bruises across one of the girl’s stomach and legs, and facial bruising.
One of the victims was home for the weekend from Florida, where she attends college, to celebrate her birthday.
The group members got away Sunday morning, but police say they have identified the social media pages of some of the perpetrators
‘Because of the head trauma, I couldn’t put her on a flight until I knew there weren’t bleeds on the brain or concussion,’ said the mother.
‘This is how she spent her 19th birthday. I hope they get what they deserve and then some because it’s disgusting,’ she told the New York Post.
According to the mothers of the two teenagers, the incident was entirely unprovoked. The two victims were returning home from celebrating one of their 19th birthdays in the city
The girls reportedly moved away from the goblin green gang when they saw them on the subway platform, but the group streamed into several entrances on the subway
Police continue to search for the attackers, most of whom wore full green masks over their faces. Detectives informed the mothers that they have seen the social media pages of the ruthless attackers.
The mother noted that New York state’s lenient bail restrictions are putting average individuals in peril.
She claimed she had a message for Governor Kathy Hochul (D) and local and state lawmakers who are ‘creating these ridiculous laws and letting savages wander the streets with nothing but a slap on the wrist.’
‘Watch the films of these two girls brutally thrashed by a bunch of mature women, and imagine it was your daughter, granddaughter, sister, mother or friend. Imagine yourself in that circumstance.
What became of the New York City we all cherished? Start mending it immediately!’ she exclaimed.
In November, Hochul will face her first election to retain her position at the helm of the New York political system. She replaced disgraced Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in the wake of an inquiry into many allegations of sexual harassment in his office.
Crime is a significant issue in the November election in New York.
Many say that New York’s improved bail laws create a revolving door for metropolitan offenders, but Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has not taken action to repeal them.
Overall crime in New York City has increased by 31.8 percent since last year, with a staggering 35.5 percent increase in robberies.
Under the careful eyes of Eric Adams and Kathy Hochul, transit-related crimes in New York City rose by 43% in the past year.
Since last year, crime in the five boroughs has increased by 33%.
This most recent subway incident occurred as crime in the city has increased by almost 31% since previous year.
More than a 35 percent increase in robberies and a 32,4 percent increase in burglaries are responsible for the rise.
Additionally, felony assaults are up 15% from last year, while grand thefts are up a staggering 43%.
But Mayor Eric Adams (D) fled the crumbling city at the end of September to visit hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, which he refers to as New York’s ‘sixth borough.’
Transit-related crimes have increased 43 per cent in the last 12 months in addition to a 16 per cent growth in felony assault charges, according to police records.
There were 1,165 crimes reported in the city transit system for the period last year compared to 1,670 this year.