10-year-old boy attacked by teens at Staten Island movie theater, mother says

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Police are searching for two men who allegedly assaulted a 10-year-old boy inside the AMC Theaters at the Staten Island Mall in New Springville.

According to a spokesperson for the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of public information, the individuals stole a backpack belonging to the child around 5:50 p.m. Saturday in a case classified as petty theft.

The NYPD spokesperson said no injuries were reported as a result of the incident; no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.

However, the mother of the 10-year-old boy, Nicole Bimonte of Prince’s Bay, said her son suffered mental and physical injuries as a result of the altercation when he was attacked by two boys she estimated to be a few years older than her son.

According to the mother, her son and a friend were dropped off at the cinema around 4:30 p.m. to watch a film at 5 p.m.

“We dropped him off, him and his friend – they’re still young, they’re just starting middle school, so we don’t let them walk around the mall, but we drop them off to go see a movie and we pick them up right after,” Bimonte said.

The ordeal began once her son and his friend sat down to watch the movie, she said.

“Everything was fine, he and his friend brought popcorn,” Bimonte said. “We called them, they were sitting on the chairs.”

According to Bimonte, his son was assaulted inside the cinema and his backpack was stolen outside the screening room.

“They dragged him across the ground with the backpack on his back while the other kid kicked him,” she said. “It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, okay, we’re going to pour this ice cream on your head and take your stuff.’ It was more like, ‘We’re going to drag you around and abuse you for a few minutes. Then we’re going to run out, run back in and steal your stuff.’ It was horrible.”

Around 5:15 p.m., the mother said she received an unexpected call from her son while he was sitting with the AMC manager after the incident.

“What bothered me was that neither the cinema manager nor the security, nobody called the police for my son,” the mother said. “I had to call the police and I wasn’t even there. I felt like they should have taken action and called the police.”

For Bimonte, the problem is not so much whether the stolen items are stolen, but rather capturing the teenagers responsible so they can face the consequences of their actions.

The mother suspects her son was targeted because he was carrying expensive items. Her son’s faux leather “Smashdown Backpack” retails on Sprayground’s website for $80 and is currently out of stock.

“They tried to steal his phone, but he managed to get it back. This is not normal,” she said. “My son is not bothering anyone. He went there with his friend to watch a movie. He is at least four years younger than these children.”

Bimonte’s son is now “devastated” and “scared” to leave home, she said.

“This is a child who loves to play outside and hang out with his friends,” she said. “These children don’t understand that there are consequences to their actions and that if parents know something, they should tell them. I understand that this is your child and you love them, but allowing your child to do these things without consequences doesn’t teach them anything about life.”

Reached for comment, Ali Phillips, public relations and social media manager for Brookfield Properties, the Staten Island mall’s parent company, said: “This incident remains under investigation by our partners at the NYPD. We do not have a curfew program in place, but we expect everyone who comes onto our property to adhere to our code of conduct.”

AMC Theatres did not respond to a request for comment.