Boys 12, 13 Held in Attack on Ex-Governor

The two face gang charges after David Paterson, stepson were assaulted in Manhattan
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 6, 2024 1:45 PM CDT
Two Boys Charged in Attack on Ex-Governor
Then-New York Gov. David Paterson speaks during an interview at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y., on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010.   (AP Photo/Tim Roske, File)

Two boys, ages 12 and 13, were arrested Saturday in connection with an assault on former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson, police said. Paterson, 70, and Anthony Sliwa, 20, were attacked around 8:30pm Friday while out for a walk on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the AP reports. They were treated at a hospital for minor injuries to the face. Paterson, who is legally blind, also sustained injuries to his body. The boys were both charged with gang assault. Police did not identify them by name because they are minors. Authorities have said at least five people were involved in the attack.

Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, assuming the post after Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a prostitution scandal. He was New York's first Black governor. Paterson said his stepson was walking the family dog when he first encountered assailants, telling them he would summon the police if they did not stop climbing up the fire escape of a building on Second Avenue. Later, Paterson said, he and Sliwa, the son of Guardian Angels anti-crime group founder Curtis Sliwa, went for a walk, encountered the group and argued with them before two of them attacked Paterson and his stepson. Paterson said his son fought off multiple attackers, per the AP, but he ended up with a cut to the face that required several stitches.

(More David Paterson stories.)

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