Two young boys were arrested and charged with assault and attempted robbery after they tried to wrestle a purse away from a 67-year-old woman on a Brooklyn street, police said.
The woman was on Empire Boulevard and Rogers Avenue in Crown Heights Monday afternoon when five boys -- one of them just 4 years old -- approached her and asked for money, according to police.
Two of the boys, each 10 years old, then grabbed her handbag and tried to yank it away, police said. One of them punched the woman in the face and ran off.
Responding officers caught the boys down the street, but they resisted and struggled against the cops as they were being put into a patrol car, police said.
The boys were charged as juveniles in the attack and released to their parents. One of them was being interviewed at the 67th Precinct stationhouse Wednesday.
Neighbors were stunned to hear how young the alleged muggers were.
"The parents need to pay more attention to the kids and teach them the right them and monitor them," said Betty Brooks.
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Community advocate Tony Herbert said he spoke to the mothers of the two boys.
"I actually was able to reach out to them, spoke to both directly, they were very much positive with regards to getting them whatever support they can to give their kids extracurricular positive activity," he said.
