New video shows teens beating woman in Downtown Crossing

A new video shows a group of teens beating a woman in Downtown Crossing Monday night, allegedly over her hairstyle.

In the video, a group of five juveniles can be seen beating and kicking the 20-year-old victim as she lay on the ground. The victim told police she thought the attack was due to her hairstyle, WCVB reported.

“It was crazy,” Julie Mendez, manager of the City Smoke Shop close by, told WCVB. “They were trying to take her bags, so I was trying to grab them so they wouldn’t take her bags. It was just insane.”

The Boston Police Department has indicated it will step up patrols in response to that and other recent violent incidents in the downtown area.

“Any time there’s an uptick in crime in the area, Boston police will respond with resources in that area,” Boston police Deputy Superintendent James Miller told WCVB.

This incident is one of several that have happened in the area in recent days.

Two women were reportedly stabbed in the wake of a brawl after leaving a nightclub in the Theater District early Wednesday morning.

And late last month, three teenage girls allegedly attacked an 81-year-old man and sprayed him with whipped cream inside a McDonald’s in Downtown Crossing, according to Boston 25.

“They came straight to me like they know me,” the man, who asked that his full name not be released, told the news station. “They hit me two or three times and covered my head with whipped cream.”

No one tried to help him, he said. Authorities said they think the same group smashed the front door, and spat on, the nearby Silvertone bar, according to the news station.

“I want the book thrown at them,” the man told Boston 25. “I want to make sure they’re severely punished. I don’t want a stone left unturned.”