Multiple people were arrested after an altercation involving machetes and other weapons broke out at a parking garage in downtown Port Chester Tuesday night, Sept. 8, authorities said.
At a news conference, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Chief Thomas Taffe and Port Chester police Capt. Charles Nielsen said the violence stemmed from an earlier incident around 5:30 p.m., when two groups of about nine to 10 people were involved in a physical altercation.
Earlier fight led to later attacks
Taffe said a shirt belonging to one of the participants was ripped off during the initial fight and later was seen in video being burned inside the parking garage.
Police believe the video was a factor in the later attacks, which occurred around 10:30 p.m., Taffe said.
The two groups
encountered each other again, this time with multiple weapons, including machetes, razor blades and knives, according to police.
A 17-year-old boy and an adult suffered lacerations to the face and head and were taken to a hospital for treatment, Taffe said. Police later charged four people with criminal possession of a weapon.
Four charged with weapons possession
Several people fled the scene, leaving a blood trail, police said. Port Chester police later took four people into custody several blocks away.
The following people were charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon:
- An unnamed 17-year-old male from Port Chester
- Hector Durasno-Escandon, 18, of Port Chester
- Jorge Osoy Lopez, 18, of Port Chester
- Wilmer Ledesma, 22, of Queens
Several weapons believed to have been used in the altercation were recovered in two areas of the parking garage and near where two people were detained, police said.
Assault investigation continues
MTA police said no one has been charged with the assaults at this time, and some suspects remain at large.
MTA police are leading the investigation because the incident occurred within the agency's jurisdiction.
Anyone with information about the altercations is asked to contact MTA police.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Machetes, knives involved in Port Chester parking garage fight; 4 charged
