He punched a teen worker at Sesame Place because he didn’t want to wear a mask, police said. On Wednesday, he was arrested.
A couple from the Bronx is accused of assaulting a 17-year-old employee who asked them to put their masks on while in the park.
A man accused of attacking a teenage Sesame Place employee last week over the theme park’s mandatory mask requirement was arrested at his New York City home early Wednesday. His alleged accomplice also faces charges, and is expected to surrender to police.
Troy McCoy, 39, faces aggravated assault, simple assault, criminal conspiracy, and related charges in the attack, which left the 17-year-old victim with serious injuries to his jaw, according to Middletown Township police. McCoy’s roommate, Shakerra Bonds, 31, has been charged with simple assault and criminal conspiracy for her role in the attack.
The assault took place Aug. 9, when the employee was working at the Captain Cookie’s High C’s Adventure ride, according to police. McCoy and Bonds were not wearing masks, and when the teenager reminded them that they were required to, McCoy punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground, investigators said.
Sesame Place reopened in July after weeks of closure due to COVID-19. The park requires guests to wear masks while in the park, except when eating, drinking, or swimming, according to a statement from the park’s management.
During the fight, police said, Bonds punched another park employee who tried to intervene. She and McCoy then fled the park.
» READ MORE: Teenage Sesame Place employee punched over mask-wearing requirement
Through a combination of park surveillance, visitor logs, and interviews with witnesses, detectives identified the car the couple left the park in, and were able to track them to the apartment they share in the Bronx, police said.
There, with the help of U.S. marshals, officers attempted to take McCoy into custody about 6 a.m. Wednesday, but he resisted and barricaded himself inside the apartment. After a short standoff, the marshals broke through the barricade and arrested McCoy. Bonds separately made arrangements to turn herself in to police in Middletown Township.
Federal officers got involved in the search because of McCoy’s criminal history in New York, which includes resisting arrest and other assault charges, according to a law enforcement source.
It was unclear when the two would be arraigned in Bucks County, or if either had hired an attorney.
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The assault fractured the victim’s jaw and damaged his teeth, requiring him to be hospitalized for a week at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, police said. A family friend started a GoFundMe to help cover the medical expenses for “double jaw surgery and the removal of a tooth.”
“Physically, this survivor is taking it day by day even in the midst of experiencing excruciating pain and the inability to perform simple tasks, such as eating solid foods and talking,” the fundraiser’s organizer, Quaneesha Shields, wrote. “Mentally and emotionally, it is a challenge to make sense of why this attack had to become a part of the narrative and through that unknown reason, depression becomes a reality.”