Cops hit 18 teens with rioting charges after a massive baby-faced mob trashed a Bronx shopping mall on Monday — as merchants and security guards braced for the out-of-control punks to return.
“I worry they’re coming back today,” Camila Suarez, a hostess at the Noches de Colombia Restaurant at the Mall at Bay Plaza in Baychester, told The Post Tuesday. “I’m worried they will mess up my stand again. They have the day off today. They said they were coming back today.
“There were 200,” said Suarez. “We ran and closed the doors, we locked the doors. All the customers stayed inside. Last winter it happened right around the same time. I think it will happen today. It’s because the kids have nothing to do. They are on break. They have a lot of time to do nothing.
“Yes, we are scared,” she said. “The manager is here today and he’s a big man.”
As many as 200 wilding teens swarmed the shopping center on Monday, when schools were closed for President’s Day, and trashed the place, hurling chairs, grabbing merchandise and knocking over displays.
“They use my mannequins to punch,” said Khan Arif, who owns the Custom Trendz t-shirt kiosk. “They break it off the base. They hit here again and again. They mess up my doll. They punched it here.
“They will again,” he added. “I think they come back today. They did last time.”
Merchants said Monday’s assault mirrored a similar one last year.
This year, police said 18 teens as young as 13 years old were cited for unlawful assembly and rioting, with only one, 19-year-old Victor Martin, old enough to be identified by cops.
The younger teens were charged as juveniles and released to their parents, police said.
On Tuesday, at least a dozen NYPD cops patrolled the mall, while security guards remained vigilant and gated several entrances shut in case the mob made a return appearance.
“They planned on TikTok to come and raid the mall, same as last year,” said mall worker Jamie Arias, who works the Hemp City kiosk. “They went up to the third floor and were throwing chairs. They tried to open my cabinets, but they stay locked.
“I suspect they might come back,” Arias added.
As of mid-afternoon, the marauding teens had not resurfaced.
Opened in 2014, the Bay Plaza mall has 150 retail stores and food spots.