Man in McDonald's beating video speaks out

Web produced by Jennifer Matarese, Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- A former McDonald's employee cleared of beating two unruly customers is speaking out for the first time.

The confrontation was caught on camera.

One customer had a broken skull.

Still, a grand jury refused to indict him.

"Only when they came up on me, that's when I started swinging it," said Rayon McIntosh, the former McDonald's employee.

Former fast food worker Rayon McIntosh says he never wanted to be a YouTube sensation, certainly not this way, caught on a cell phone video beating two unruly female customers at a Greenwich Village McDonald's in October.

But the 31-year-old ex-con, working the overnight shift, trying to turn his life around, says he did what he had to do against two women who took their verbal threats to the physical level.

"She f--- me up. She cut me up, I'm an immigrant. I'm still trying to tell her, you know, 'Can you please calm down? This isn't serious.' That's when she spit on me, slapped me from across the counter where the patrons are supposed to be. She spit on me first, and followed with a smack in my face," McIntosh said.

She then jumped over the counter, and her friend went to head McIntosh off.

He says he felt trapped.

"I just picked up the first thing that was in my reach. It was a metal and aluminum rod, very bendable, very thin. It's a long metal rod with a handle, you can bend it like this," McIntosh said.

It was a rod used to scrape the grill.

"You can see she clearly come to the back, and that's when I started swinging it. I thought she had a weapon," McIntosh said.

"I guess the question is, why keep hitting them?" Eyewitness News Investigative reporter Sarah Wallace asked.

"Because they still keep coming at me, you're not thinking rational, you're just thinking to keep this person at bay," McIntosh said.

"So you think you were absolutely justified in continuing to hit them?" Wallace asked.

"Yes, because they still keep coming towards me," McIntosh said.

"And then it becomes after the first blow, does it continue to be self-defense?" Wallace asked.

"You are just in survival mode. That's the only answer I could give," McIntosh said.

"It looks like you hit one of them when she was on the ground, trying to defend yourself," Wallace said.

"Oh, because she kept getting up and telling me, when she get up, she's going to f--- me up," McIntosh said.

Even though Myika Darbeau suffered a fractured skull and arm and Rachel Edwards was cut, a grand jury declined last week to indict McIntosh for felony assault.

He'd gotten out of prison last March after serving 11 years for manslaughter and was terrified at the thought of going back.

"Do you have any regrets about this?" Wallace asked.

"I'm sorry that it happened. All I wanted to do was work my shift and go back home. I wasn't looking for trouble. I learned that my freedom is the most important thing that I got," McIntosh said.

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2 arrested, more sought in NJ street mob beating

Web produced by Bill King, Eyewitness NewsJERSEY CITY (WABC) -- Two people are under arrest and police are searching for more suspects after a man was beaten into a coma by a street mob in New Jersey.

The incident happened early Sunday in Bayonne, not far from the Quick-Chek on Broadway. Twenty-two-year-old Dawid Strucinski, who goes by the name David, just graduated from Rutgers and was looking for his first job. Now, he's fighting for his life.

A fundraiser is scheduled for Friday to help pay for Strucinski's medical bills.

Police in Bayonne say it was a vicious attack, and now two of the young women believed to be involved are in custody. One is charged with rioting.

Strucinski was walking home with friends when they spotted another friend surrounded by a mob of people.

"He was getting pushed around in the middle of the street," friend David Aziz said. "So me, Dan and Dave go run to diffuse the situation and get everyone back."

But there was no diffusing the confrontation, and the mob turned on the friends, separating them.

"I got hit in the back of the head, dropped and got stomped out by a couple of people," Dan Sautkin said. "I feel like the same thing happened to Dave, except when he got hit, he got instantly knocked out. So when they were kicking him, he was already unconscious."

Strucinski was kicked repeatedly and suffered severe head injuries. Police say there were more than a dozen attackers, at least nine men and four women.

"From what I understand, it wasn't a targeted attack," friend Steve Grau said. "It was just those people were out that night, and they were looking to do exactly what they did."

Strucinski was taken to Jersey City Medical Center, where he remains there in a coma. Officials say he is breathing on his own.

His friends hope the fundraiser, at the local Polish-American hall, will help pay his hospital expenses.

For more information on the fundraiser, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=116604791763952

(Copyright ©2011 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more New Jersey News »

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Shocking video of girls' beating at school

Web produced by Bill King and Jennifer Matarese, Eyewitness NewsBRONX (WABC) -- Both teachers and school safety officers are being investigated for standing by and not lifting a finger to stop a bloody brawl in the Bronx.

The fight video, taken at Eximius Preparatory Academy, only lasts a minute. But for any parent who sees their child getting kicked, punched and bitten, the chaos that one minute video feels like a lifetime.

"After I seen the video, I was really destroyed," the victim's mother, Tjuana Thomas said. "How could they? I could understand if it was a one on one, but it's like so many kids just pounding away."

In the video, Thomas' daughter is seen standing top on a school cafeteria table when another student leaps up and starts pounding on the 15-year-old sophomore.

They both fall to the floor, and that's when four more girls jump in, kicking and punching.

"One of the boys at my school tried to pull me off of her," the girl said. "He tried to stop the fight, but she still had my hair."

Thomas did not want her daughter to be identified. The teen says she's been bullied by a group of girls since she transferred to the school four months ago.

She says this fight started because she confronted another student who was bullying her by throwing water on her, and then she was surrounded by a group of girls.

"I got on the table because they were coming around me," she said. "So they won't hit me."

One classmate came to her defense, only to catch the most vicious brunt of the beating. That girl tried to hide under a table, but she was savagely dragged out and kicked and punched in the face.

"I feel happy that she helped me," Thomas' daughter said. "But I feel bad that they all jumped on her."

The controversy is heightened by the video, which shows two NYPD school safety officers walk into the room as the fight starts. But they are not seen at any time trying to break it up.

"I thought you were there to protect the children?" Thomas said.

"The school cafeteria people pulled me away," the teen said. "I don't know [where the school officers were]."

NYPD officials say school safety agents are supposed to intervene during fights and have the power to make arrests. They're looking into why this may not have happened.

Three girls were arrested on misdemeanor assault, riot and disorderly conduct charges.

Thomas' daughter was suspended for five days, but says she will not return to the school.

The Department of Education says that the students are being disciplined and that the matter is being investigated.

They also said that the bullying was never reported.

Thomas' daughter says that she didn't report the bullying because she was afraid.

(Copyright ©2011 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more New York News »

new york city, assault, child injured, teenager, bronx, new york news, darla miles

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