Benjamin Carroll

NYC Bodega Workers Save Teen From Mob of Attackers; Witnesses Recall Junior's Killing

Back in June, 15-year-old Lesandro 'Junior' Guzman Feliz was brutally murdered at a different Bronx bodega just three miles away

What to Know

  • Several Bronx bodega workers are being hailed as heroes after they stepped in to save a teenager seeking help from a mob of attackers
  • Back in June, 15-year-old Lesandro 'Junior' Guzman Feliz was brutally murdered at a different Bronx bodega, but nobody came to his aid then
  • Cops say they arrested a 15-year-old in connection with Tuesday’s beating, but added they are still looking for the others who were involved

Workers at a Bronx bodega are being hailed heroes after they stepped in to save a teenager who was being chased by an angry mob in a botched attack that could have ended in tragedy.

Surveillance cameras show the teen boy run into a Highbridge bodega for help, with several other teenagers chasing after him. The video then shows the boy hiding in the back of the aisles, but the mob finds him.

Witnesses say four of them beat the teen, kicking him in the head while more teenagers watch, but it was that moment bodega owner Edward Lara and others leaped into action to save the teen’s life.

“The little kid came here asking for help,” Lara said. “He said ‘please help me they’re going to kill me.’”

More than a dozen suspects faced a judge in the murder of the Bronx teen known as “Junior”. Rana Novini reports.

Lara added that although he was worried for his safety he remembered an eerily similar story from the summer: Junior.

Back in June, 15-year-old Lesandro "Junior" Guzman Feliz was brutally murdered at a different Bronx bodega just three miles from Tuesday’s beating. The only thing that was different was nobody came to Junior’s aid.

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Meanwhile, in Tuesday’s attack, one of the attackers fired a gun on the street just before chasing the teen into the bodega, striking an innocent bystander. The teen and the 50-year-old man are expected to survive.

“They’re heroes,” Lara said of his workers.

Police said they arrested a 15-year-old in connection with Tuesday’s beating, but added they are still looking for the others who were involved.

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