Their arrest was in no small part because there was a witness to the attack who recorded the incident on a cell phone camera.
"Nobody would help him," said Jean Cadet.
The first few moments Cadet's cell phone video is a bit murky, shot from about 40 feet away. But then you see the 40-year-old victim in a white shirt and black vest run away from a crowd. A man runs up from behind--socks him--and then another man joins in to start wailing on him.
That's when 50-year-old cabbie Jean Cadet pulled out his digital camera.
"All of the sudden, I heard a glass break and I heard someone say they took my money! They took my money! They took my money," said Wayne Whiteside.
This video was shot from the Valley Stream train station in Long Island Monday night. You see the victim outnumbered and trying to get away, but the men kept kicking and kicking him.
"All of this was over for $40. He was walking to catch a taxi, to go home from a friend's house and they attacked him, all for $40," said Det. Sgt. Kenneth Catalani, Nassau County Police.
Kathryn Lahn was working dispatch for Valley Stream taxi that night and called 911.
"They got one kid on the corner, taping the whole thing," said Kathryn Lahn.
Police arrested 21-year-old Christain Cruz on the spot.
The next day 20-year-old Steven Wilhemlsen was arrested, both because of the video.
Lahn says the victim was humble and "His nose was bloody, he didn't want to press charges..."
