By Alex Davidson
A visitor from Los Angeles was attacked Sept. 27 inside the McDonald’s restaurant on the busy corner of Jamaica Avenue and Parsons Boulevard as patrons inside watched but did nothing to stop the assault, he said.
Anil Srivastava, 45, said he was walking to catch a train at the Jamaica train station after visiting a doctor but first decided to go into the restaurant to get some food.
“I went to walk in and six guys blocked the entrance into the McDonald’s,” he said. “I said ‘excuse me,’ then they asked to have my cell phone and I just tried to ignore them and went inside.”
But Srivastava, who also claims the restaurant had unplugged its security cameras, said the band of six teenagers followed him inside and started kicking him as they tried to steal his cell phone.
He said patrons inside the restaurant and a security guard ignored his plight despite several calls for help.
“The security guard just let them come in, he didn’t do anything about it,” said Srivastava, who was hospitalized after the attack.
Police in the 103rd Precinct did not return phone calls to comment on the incident and it appeared there had been no arrests.
Srivastava said one member of the group who approached him from behind while he was on the ground outside the McDonald’s hit and twisted his right arm, causing a triple fracture.
“I was shouting and then I fell on the ground outside,” Srivastava said. “I thought I was going to die.”
Police arrived and stopped the attack after a passerby finally called 911.
A spokesman for the Police Department’s public information arm said it was unaware of the incident, which he said means the NYPD had decided the event did not warrant media attention.
Srivastava said police were unable to get a tape of the incident because McDonald’s employees said they had unplugged the security cameras.
This week the manager at the McDonald’s confirmed that the incident had occurred on Sept. 27, but he said the restaurant did not have any security cameras and was in the process of installing them.
Neither the security guard on duty nor the store manager would comment further on the attack.
McDonald’s headquarters could not be reached for comment.
Srivastava, who is an Indian, said he did not think the incident was racially motivated, but he believes he was targeted because the group of black youths knew he did not belong there.
“They were playing tough guys,” he said. “They liked outnumbering people to create trouble.”
A spokesman for Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica said Srivastava had been admitted to the hospital on Sept. 27, had surgery and was released on Oct. 5.
Srivastava, who had reconstructive surgery on his right arm, which included implanting a metal plate and screws, moved to the United States in 1980 from his native India. He said the September trip was only his second visit to Jamaica, although he had previously been to New York City.
Reach reporter Alex Davidson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 156
