93-3-3-WMR Audio on Demand presents the Preston and Steve show podcast.

And now, Preston and Steve's news update with Kathy Romano.

Today is Wednesday, June 29th. Good morning, Kathy.

Good morning. In the news this morning, a Philadelphia man is in the ICU after he was brutally beaten by a group of teenagers in the city's spring garden section, according to police. The 53-year-old victim identified only as Benjamin was walking towards the 1600 block of Mount Vernon Street just before 8.30 p.m. on Friday when he was attacked by two boys and two girls ranging in ages from 15 to 17 years old.

Lying unconscious on the ground, police said the teens went through his pockets and snatched his car and house keys along with his credit cards.

They easily could have killed him, the victim's wife, Michelle Ferreira, said.

She said the assault was so severe that his brain was bleeding and part of his skull had to be removed. Oh my God. Awful, right? The victim is also facing memory loss and we'll have to go through speech therapy. Ferreira says her four-year-old son is now trying to comprehend what happened to his dad. Their bond is going to have to be reimagined because they can't do basic father's son stuff. She said that he'll try to say something.

He'll try to speak and he's trying to get the words out and he just can't. And then she said, you'll see him like wipe a tear away from his eye because he's so frustrated. Wow. Terrible. Yeah. These, you know, beatings, you don't, some people don't consider that you can either kill or do permanent damage to somebody like that. The video of him, he's just absolutely, he's been just thumped,

and you can tell that he's having difficulties.

Awful.

Police said credit card charges at a nearby hotel on Benjamin's card helped find the teens.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said this is still an active investigation,

but four juvenile

defendants are in custody and are charged with robbery, aggravated assault, conspiracy, simple

assault, unauthorized use of property and related offenses.

There are no weapons charges as it does not appear that any weapons were used according to the

district attorney's office.

According to a law enforcement source, the two male teens

who engaged in the unprovoked assault are also facing attempted murder charges.

A building owner has been charged with allegedly setting a fire that led to the death of a

Philadelphia firefighter. 28-year-old Al Ashraf Khalil is charged with maliciously damaging a building

by means of fire and aiding and abetting.

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