16 year old charged in videotaping attack of another student

Long Island
Teen who taped North Babylon fight is chargedBY ZACHARY R. DOWDYNewsday Staff WriterJanuary 29, 2007, 10:17 PM EST
The North Babylon teenager who Suffolk police said videotaped the attack by three girls on a 13-year-old girl -- a four-minute film that was posted on the Internet and became a worldwide symbol of cyberbullying -- was arrested Monday after turning himself in.Police charged Bryan Alomar, 16, of North Babylon, with unlawful assembly, a Class B misdemeanor.

Alomar was released on $100 stationhouse bail and is due in First District Court in Central Islip on March 22."He was there and videotaped the whole thing," said Lt. Robert Edwards, commander of the First Precinct's Crime Section. "We're not sure who posted it on the Internet, but he was the recorder."The arrest is the latest development in a case that received worldwide media attention because the attack was boldly posted on the Internet.That deed, many observers said, was an act of information age-bullying because it further humiliated the victim in the attack by displaying the beating to the world."I sincerely hope that the message is getting out to young people all around the county and the country that bullying or physically abusing peers is serious and unacceptable, not entertainment fodder for a Web site," said Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, reacting to the arrest.The video in question features three girls attacking another girl with considerable anger, knocking her down and, at times, pulling her hair and kicking her repeatedly in the head.Her father appeared on a national news show and said his daughter had expected to meet and talk with one girl, but that she was ambushed by three. The father said his daughter was able to cover up her hurt places and that he and his wife were not aware of the attack at the time.The attack was Dec. 18 outside Woods Road Elementary School in North Babylon.The three girls, all first-year students at North Babylon High School, were arrested earlier this month and charged with juvenile delinquency with an underlying charge of third-degree assault. They have been released to their parents' custody and have been suspended from school.The fight, investigators have said, stemmed from a dispute over a boy. The victim and one of the girls seen attacking her had both dated the same boy, police have said.The video that documents the attack was posted on several Web sites, including YouTube.com and MySpace.com, prompting school officials to alert police and discipline the teenagers.It was unclear Monday whether the boy over whom the girls were said to be fighting would also face charges. He was believed to have been present during the fight, too."Not as of now," Edwards said Monday of any charges against the boyfriend.Alomar also was suspended for five days from North Babylon High. Neither his parents nor his attorney could be reached for comment Monday night.