A member of the “Green Goblin” crew that attacked two 19-year old women in a Times Square subway station, was set free Thursday on a supervised release.
Emily Soto, 34, stayed quiet during her arraignment on second-degree robbery charges and slipped on a green cloth COVID-19 face mask as she left Manhattan Criminal Court.
Soto’s attorney said, “She has had no previous criminal history before turning herself in on Wednesday. She brought herself to a precinct when she heard of these allegations.”
Prosecutors argued back, “The attack committed by a green leotard-wearing gang, which included Soto, was a serious matter and not to be cast aside.”
Soto’s release came one day after another alleged member of the crew, Ciante Alston, 26, was cut free on a supervised release at the request of prosecutors. A third alleged member of the gang, Mariam Issouf, was also freed without bail Tuesday.
Police identified four suspects as Ciante Alston, Mariam Cisse Issouf, Dariana Peguero, all 26, and 34-year-old Emily Soto. The four suspects live in New York City Housing Authority’s Queensboro Houses in Long Island City.
Clad in full-body neon green leotards and masks, the suspects were caught on camera allegedly beating two straphangers at the Times Square subway train station at around 2 a.m. Oct. 2. The victims were robbed of a cellphone and a handbag.
Two 19-year-old female victims told NYPD officers they were engaged in a verbal dispute with a group of unidentified individuals. As the dispute escalated, the victims were pushed and punched as they tried to enter a train car and had items stolen from them.
According to NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig, the group had been filming TikTok videos dressed in the costumes nearby before the attack. The videos later led police to footage of them without face coverings, helping cops identify the suspects.
A mother of one of the victims said her daughter was celebrating her birthday when she was attacked and called the suspects complete animals.
“All these men sitting there taking videos and watching, and none of them helped while a group of 10 women were beating two young girls,” the mom said
Soto is due back in court on Nov. 21.
UNGAWA!
These scum are what New Yorkers want, they have run the decent people out, now it’s Escape from New York. Wait till they meet A Number 1. Even Snake Pliskin doesn’t want to go to NYC.
Who’d of thunk, they all all welfare queens living in a public housing project on the taxpayers expense.
It’s sad when not one person helped these young ladies. You know everyone carries pepper spray or something when riding the subway or bus. Ppl just don’t care anymore. Maybe my way of thinking is wrong for this generation.
What needs to happen is a bunch of citizens carry baseball bats and knock the wholly crap out of these thugs, break their legs and arms where they cannot walk and are hospitalized for months.