Hoboken Man Assaulted by Group of Teenagers

A Hoboken man said he was punched in the face and assaulted by a group of teenagers after an evening jog on Thursday night. 

The 33-year-old, who wished to remain anonymous but explained the incident in an email to Patch, said that a group of six to eight teenagers approached him. "Some running others on either bikes or scooters, and they seemed to be well ahead and just heading for the park," he wrote. 

One of the teens punched the man and then the group ran off, according to police. 

According to the police report about the incident, the alleged assault took place around 7:45 p.m. at 1013 Grand St., in the area of Columbus Park. 

The victim wrote, "suddenly, I felt surrounded and one of them punched me directly in the face hard enough that I fell to the ground. Someone who did not witness the incident but heard my reaction reported to police that one of them said 'got him!' to the other, and two others shrugged to her and said 'we had nothing to do with it.'"

According to police, groups of teenagers known as "knock out boys" who used to punch random strangers in the face and run off, similar to what happened on Thursday. A game of "knock out," however, was not mentioned in the police report. 

The victim suffered from a laceration on his right knee, and lesser cuts and bruises on his left knee as well as a sore head, he said.