Rich Newberg, WIVB (Buffalo), September 4, 2012

When a 24-year-old woman saw a deli worker in trouble, she tried to help and ended up paying a painful price. Now she’s hoping a video will help identify her attackers.

The victim, whose name and identity News 4 is protecting, suffered broken bones above her right eye and a fractured nose after being assaulted by some of these teenaged boys shown in surveillance video from the deli. The boys had been inside before the attack, filling their pockets with items they allegedly didn’t pay for.

She happened to be outside the deli at the time and noticed the young brother of the owner chasing the alleged shoplifters confronting them. Then the mob, including some teenaged girls, turned on her. She was mercilessly beaten by six to ten people.

“Within five seconds, [I] was surrounded by a group of boys who just started punching me in the face. And when I fell to the ground they kept hitting me, and I stood up once and they knocked me down again and started kicking me in the face and back,” the woman said.

She said Buffalo Police showed up quickly, but did not make any arrests, even though she could identify at least one of the girls who was still on the street.

She also says the boy, seen in the video wearing a red hat and red shirt in the upper right frame, was the one who initially punched her and broke bones in her face. The injuries will require surgery.

The victim said, “The bone is fractured in multiple places, and my nose is fractured, so they have to put in a wire mesh to keep all the bones together so that my muscles can work properly. Right now my eyes aren’t moving correctly.”

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