The F-bomb, colorful terms for men's genitals, racial slurs, that b-word that rhymes with witch — it was all spewing out of the mouths of kids who look young enough to still send letters to Santa.
The five boys were standing in the aisle of a crowded SEPTA El train traveling through North Philadelphia last Thursday evening when the tirade began.
Patrick Coyle recorded his encounter with the boys and posted two videos to Facebook, where they took off like wildfire and caught the attention of SEPTA authorities.
“I was on the train I’m the one recording it I’m the one that got punched in the balls I started recording it after they smacked some lady and cursed her out,” Coyle posted.
The first video shows the kids being loud on the train and moving about. One child then gets angry that Coyle is recording them. From there, a vile diatribe starts, with Coyle talking back at some points.
But it didn’t stop there. In the second video, at least one of the boys got physical. It appears Coyle is punched and head-butted by one kid.
“Watch your mouth … Watch your language,” you can hear a woman tell the children eventually.
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A few seconds later, the boys and the woman got off the train at Market-Frankford Line's York-Dauphin Station. Though before the train doors closed, the kids continued to shout, spit and gesture at Coyle.
After seeing the video, SEPTA Police Chief Thomas Nestel said began a search for the kids so police could arrange for behavioral counseling.
"We need to help families that are in situations where their kids are spiraling, and these kids are spiraling. Something needs to be done to help them," the chief said.
Aurelis Rivera is mother to two of the boys. She learned about the video Monday after friends shared it with her. Rivera said she was shocked and ashamed by the kids' actions.
"I want to apologize to everybody and especially to the man," she said.
Her boys were on their way home from spending the day with their cousin and aunt when the incident happened. Rivera said the woman seen in the video with the kids is the aunt.
David Perez, the boys' stepfather, says while the kids acted inappropriately, Coyle exacerbated the situation by egging the kids on.
"He instigated it to the point where they was acting like that," he said.
Coyle tells NBC10 he recorded and posted the video because he felt the children needed to get help for their behavior.
Rivera and Perez said they are working through issues with the boys. SEPTA police were able to connect with the family Tuesday night and were working to get them set up with youth and family services.
