NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — An alleged MS-13 member was extradited from North Carolina to Long Island for his alleged role 2024 violent attack on a teen boy, authorities announced Wednesday.
Josue Zepeda Padilla, 28, of Huntington Station, is one of seven alleged members and associates of the Huntington Criminal Locates Salvatrucha or "HCLS" clique of the MS-13 street gang charged in the beating, prosecutors said.
According to the investigation, on Jan. 6, 2024, the 15-year-old boy was lured to the Huntington LIRR station by a group of MS-13 members and associates.
While at the train station, Zepeda Padilla and four other suspected MS-13 members and associates allegedly surrounded the boy and took his money.
Zepeda Padilla and the others then allegedly punched the victim repeatedly, knocked him to the ground, and repeatedly kicked him.
After the assault, Zepeda Padilla and his MS-13 associates allegedly forced the teen into a vehicle and drove him to the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Brentwood where they allegedly placed a hood over his head and brought him into an abandoned building.
Inside the building, Zepeda Padilla and the other MS-13 members and associates beat the victim repeatedly, struck him with a rock, and stabbed him in the neck, officials said.
Zepeda Padilla and the other assailants then fled the abandoned building and left the victim unconscious on the ground, prosecutors allege.
When the teen regained consciousness, he found a way out of the building and walked to a nearby road where he collapsed and was found by a good Samaritan who called 911.
The teen was brought to a local hospital, and required surgery, including a craniotomy, to treat a brain bleed and fractured skull.
Zepeda Padilla fled Suffolk County and was on the run for over a year after the assault. After extensive electronic tracking and surveillance, authorities located and arrested Zepeda Padilla at a residence in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
He was arraigned on the charges including robbery, assault, gang assault, kidnapping and attempted assault on Wednesday.
Zepeda Padilla is due back in court on April 21 and faces 25 years in prison.
"I want to thank our federal partners for their assistance in bringing this alleged MS-13 gang member back to Suffolk County so that he can face accountability for his actions," said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney. "Let it be known that we will work with every law enforcement agency in this country to track down perpetrators of gang violence."