by Jim Kouri - The Harlem gangbangers who killed a New York University student by chasing him into the path of a car were videotaped ransacking a Harlem fast-food eatery, NYPD detectives told the press yesterday.
The video will assist police in their the hunt for the teens who screamed "Get the white boy!" as they chased John Broderick Hehman, 20, into street traffic last Saturday, which resulted in the white student's death, according to the New York Daily News.
At least two dozen blacks were caught on video terrorizing workers at the E. 125th St. McDonald's on March 24 -- a week prior to Hehman's death at the hands of these street toughs, reported the News.
The suspects -- including black teens who sources claim attacked Hehman -- kicked over trash cans, hurled trays through the air and knocked around registers, McDonald patrons and workers told police.
"I was terrified. I literally thought they were all going to jump over the counter and come after us," said McDonald's manager Maria Prandy, 33, who was hit in the face with a tray. "I've never been as scared as I was that night."
Investigators identified several youths on the videotape, and homicide detectives and investigators from the Hate Crimes Task Force were scouring the neighborhood for witnesses yesterday. So far, at least one witness contacted police detectives .
Investigators believe the teens who chased Hehman to his tragic death are part of the roving gang that has wreaked havoc in several stores along 125th St. One teen was arrested after the March 24 incident, according to the Daily News.
Five other teens involved with the McDonald's incident are now in custody, police sources said, but the three who assailed the student remain fugitives.
"They're punks. They're destroying these places," a police detective said. "They pretty much prey on anyone in the neighborhood."
While talking on his cell phone on his way to visit a friend, Hehman was confronted outside a Popeye's fast-food joint at 125th St. and Park Aveune at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, the Daily News reported.
"I'm almost there," he told the pal before the line went dead, police said.
After Hehman a homeless man in a wheelchair a dollar bill, one of his attackers asked him, "What about us? Where's our dollar?" the sources said.
They then pushed Hehman and screamed "Get the white boy!" as the frightened NYU junior darted into the street where he was run down by a silver Mercedes.
Hehman died Wednesday at Harlem Hospital. His death is being probed as a possible hate crime.
The attack mirrors the infamous Howard Beach case in 1986 when a group of racist white thugs chased a black man onto the Belt Parkway where he was struck and killed by a car.
