Updated 04/12/2010 12:17 PM
Staten Island Residents Gather To Support Bias Attack Victim
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Staten Islanders came together Sunday night for a vigil for the victim of an alleged bias attack.
Residents and family members gathered at the spot where Rodolfo Olmedo, 26, was beaten by a group of people last Monday morning.
Community activists say they want to unite the neighborhood.
Olmedo's mother saw the beating on television and says the entire family is traumatized.
"I feel like they treated my son like an animal beating him so savagely,” said the victim’s mother Margarita Olmedo, through a translator.
“You should be able to walk through the streets without any fear of being attacked,” said Edward Josey of the NAACP.
Olmedo is home from the hospital, as he recovers from a fractured skull suffered in the attack.
Rolston Hopson, William Marcano and Tyrone Goodman, all 17, along with a 15-year-old who is not being named because of his age, face charges including assault as a hate crime and robbery.
If convicted, they face up to 25 years in prison.
A police source says a tipster saw one of two surveillance recordings on NY1 that showed the suspects carrying the bats allegedly used in the crime. That viewer tipped off police about the identity of the attackers.