Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with the attack on former New York Governor David Paterson and his 20-year-old stepson while they were walking their dog in Manhattan on Friday night, authorities confirmed to Fox News Digital on Sunday morning.
Police described the two teenagers as a 12-year-old male who was charged with second-degree gang assault and a 13-year-old male charged with third-degree gang assault. Their names were omitted since they are minors.
Detectives have been looking for five people they believe were involved in the attack on Paterson and his stepson, Anthony Chester Sliwa, just after 8:30 p.m. Friday on the Upper East Side.
Five unidentified males accosted Paterson and Sliwa, sparking a verbal fight that police say evolved into a physical attack that left the former governor with a head injury and his stepson with a more serious facial injury. Paterson and his stepson received treatment at a local hospital.
Paterson, who is 70 and severely blind, told FreedomNews.TV on Saturday that his stepson first saw three of the youngsters climbing a fire escape to a building in the area and threatened to call the cops if they didn’t come back down to the street.
“They came down.” “He got into it with one of them, and that was pretty much the end of it,” Paterson explained. The former governor stated that he and his stepson later encountered the youths and their friends on Second Avenue, which resulted in an argument.
Paterson claimed that while the teenagers argued with his stepson, two other people intervened, sparking the incident. “The kids didn’t start the fight,” Paterson added. “They were bickering. When the brawl broke out, everyone joined in.
Paterson informed reporters that he had been “punched in the face a couple of times” and on the shoulder. “I threw the person who punched me on the shoulder against the McDonald’s window,” Paterson added.
Police have released descriptions of the five suspects and asked the public for help in identifying them.
Sean Darcy, the former Democratic governor’s spokesperson, had told Fox News Digital that Paterson and his stepson were released from the hospital early Saturday morning.
“The Governor’s only request is that people refrain from attempting to use an unfortunate act of violence for their own personal or political gain,” Darcy told reporters. “He and his wife, Mary, are thankful for the quick response time from the police and the outpouring of support they have received from people across all spectrums.” Paterson served as New York’s governor from 2008 until 2010. His wife is Mary Sliwa, the former wife of Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.