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'Thought they were going to kill me': Girl, 12, recalls moped muggers dragging her and snatching $800 chain

The horrifying video shows Julie Montiel, 12, being attacked by two moped thugs on the sidewalk of Layton Street before leaving her stumbling

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A 12-year-old Queens girl was attacked by two moped thugs on the sidewalk of Layton Street last month. On Monday, November 14, Julie Montiel said that the incident has left her "traumatized" and that the criminals are "the worst human beings alive."

The unnamed robbers attacked Montiel from behind in an effort to get the chain off her neck. Montiel was then abruptly pulled along the pavement down Layton Street, leaving her stumbling. She briefly knocked them off balance with her side-to-side movements, resulting in the motorbike crashing into a small tree. But eventually, they got to their feet while still holding her $800 chain, and took off on their motorbike. The brutal assault, according to NYPD police, took place in Elmhurst, Queens, on October 24 around 4.30 pm.

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Montiel said, "It's scary to go out in the streets most of the time. Kids should be safe... a lot of kids are getting hurt right now. They're just the worst human beings alive just to put a 12-year-old girl in that position. It's just, girls should feel safe," as reported by the New York Post.

"It happened fast, so I didn't feel when I was dragged," the seventh-grader said standing outside her family's Elmhurst house. "I only cared about the necklace. I didn't know what to do or how to react. I didn't feel the pain. It was more like I only felt the necklace being pulled off."

Montiel responded in Spanish when asked what she believed the robbers were going to do next, "That they were going to kill me." She claimed that the necklace was "really special because I had it for a lot of years."

"I just think they're disrespectful because I've never harmed someone in a way," Montiel stated that the gold necklace with a crucifix pendant was given to her by her mother when she was little. "So I don't think I deserved that, you know?" She claimed that the muggers had been stalking her for a few minutes before they rolled up and attacked her. She was saved by her father and a young onlooker.

Montiel described the attack as "very traumatizing," and her sister, Giselle Montiel, 14, claimed she was unable to speak about it for days and ended up skipping school as a result. Giselle said, "She went to get food, and that's when she started to get followed. It's just, anyone in the street nowadays. Even the ones who look harmless, they can be the most harmful people."

This was the first of at least seven robberies connected to the same moped-riding robbers who have been terrorizing the borough over the past few weeks. Police are still looking for the two chain-snatching suspects.