A violent street brawl erupted in Brooklyn, leaving six people injured after a dispute in a home housing over 30 migrants escalated into a public melee. The incident, which occurred on a Sunday morning, was captured on doorbell and bystander footage, revealing a chaotic scene that began in a Gerritsen Beach residence and spilled onto the surrounding streets.
The footage shows a man in a dark shirt chasing another individual, making repeated stabbing motions, and seemingly slashing through a crowd of people. As the violence unfolded, a group of women and children fled from the house, which has been known for its continuous partying, and sought refuge under a deck, according to a local resident.
The resident, an FDNY firefighter who wished to remain anonymous, described the scene, saying, “There were 12 adult ladies clutching little babies and six kids under 15 all jammed under the deck here. I felt so bad for them.”
The police arrested 19-year-old Erick Caiza Iza, charging him with assault, menacing, and weapons offenses in connection with the brawl. Additional footage from a neighbor’s window showed the fight moving from the house on Fane Street near Devon Avenue and into the street.
Another anonymous male neighbor described the escalating violence, saying, “They were fighting and they came out onto the avenue and they continued fighting and it was getting worse and worse, about 15 of them pushing, head-butting each other.”
The brawl, which occurred around 6:20 a.m., resulted in a 30-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man being slashed in the face, a man in his 30s stabbed in the neck and wrist, a 16-year-old slashed in the arm, and a 19-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman slashed in their hands, according to police reports. All six victims were hospitalized in stable condition.
The house where the dispute originated is home to 31 migrant adults and children and has been a source of disturbance in the neighborhood. The number of occupants in the house has increased significantly from less than ten to 31 in the past nine months, according to the firefighter.
The party that sparked the violent incident was a birthday celebration, a neighbor revealed. Following the stabbing, the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit removed all occupants from the property and discovered sheetrock partitions that divided the home into numerous small rooms.
During the search, officers found three children hidden in one of the partitioned rooms. Despite numerous complaints about the house over the past six months, no action had been taken until the incident.
Some women who returned to the house on Monday told reporters in Spanish that they had recently arrived in the United States from South America. The firefighter and another neighbor, Chris Hanna, alleged that the men living in the house were involved in shoplifting from nearby stores and the children were stealing items from residential properties.
“We’re all scared they’re going to let these people move back in here,” Hanna said. Another neighbor who witnessed the brawl expressed concern for the children living in the house, citing a lack of parental supervision.