Man filmed attacking girl, 11,in Manhattan dog park worked for nonprofit for traumatized kids

A New Yorker police say is the man filmed attacking an 11 year-old girl in a dog park used to work for a non-profit that helps traumatized children.  

Nathaniel DiRenzo’s former position as a volunteer board member for the Lineage Project was revealed by DailyMail.com hours after he was charged with strangulation, assault and harassment and perp-walked by cops.

Co-executive director Gabrielle Prisco said: ‘Nathaniel DiRenzo was never an employee of the Lineage Project. He did serve as an uncompensated, volunteer board member. Mr. DiRenzo is no longer on our Board of Directors.’

She has not commented on whether he was axed from his role at the Lineage Project as a result of the shocking assault clip. 

The project’s website describes its role in teaching ‘trauma-sensitive mindfulness to young people, ages 12 to 24, who are navigating system-involvement and other serious challenges, to support them in cultivating well-being, community bonds, and inner/collective resilience.’

Nathanial DiRenzo’s biography on the Lineage Project website is pictured. It has since been removed, and he no longer works as a volunteer director for the non-profit  

Co-executive director Gabrielle Prisco said: ‘Nathaniel DiRenzo was never an employee of the Lineage Project. He did serve as an uncompensated, volunteer board member. Mr. DiRenzo is no longer on our Board of Directors’

It adds: ‘We center young people, who are impacted by a range of traumatized/traumatizing systems—including the criminal-legal, foster care, shelter, school suspension, residential psychiatric care, and immigration systems.’

An archived page from the site’s website says of its former volunteer DiRenzo: ‘Nate joins us from Google where he is part of the Cloud team. A New Jersey native, Nate attended NYU for undergrad and worked for the U.S. Congress and POLITICO before returning to the city. He is the proud owner of a mini goldendoodle named Auggie, an avid runner, and unrepentant foodie.’ 

 DiRenzo, of Saint Marks Place in the East Village, was charged on October 23 with second-degree strangulation, two counts of assault, second-degree harassment and two counts of acting in a manner injurious to a child for the October 20 incident. 

He was seen being perp-walked from a police station in Lower Manhattan Saturday night, and wore a gray suit and black mask as he faced the cameras. 

DiRenzo graduated from New York University, according to his bio on the non-profit’s website, and worked with the U.S. Congress and Politico before he returning to the city. 

His dog, who he was presumably taking to the dog park for exercise before he attacked the schoolchildren, is a mini Goldendoodle named Auggie. 

On Saturday, DiRenzo was photographed by DailyMail.com as he was escorted out of Manhattan’s 13th precinct after his arrest and subsequent release on $7,500 bail.

On Saturday, DiRenzo was photographed as he was escorted out of Manhattan’s 13th precinct following his arrest and subsequent release on $7,500 bail

‘Nathaniel DiRenzo… serve[d] as an uncompensated, volunteer board member [and is] no longer on our Board of Directors,’ Gabrielle Prisco, the Co-Executive director of the program, told DailyMail.com. It is unclear whether he was removed from the board due to video circulated from the incident on October 20

In the video, DiRenzo and two other dog walkers were seen yelling at the children and their school chaperone at Stuyvesant Square between the intersection of East 16th Street and Perlman Place

In the video, a dog owner believed to be DiRenzo and two other dog walkers were seen yelling at the children and their school chaperone at Stuyvesant Square between the intersection of East 16th Street and Perlman Place.

The school children had been throwing dirt and poppers on the ground at the park before the three dog walkers began to intervene.

The man who police say is DiRenzo then began violently attacking the 11-year-old girl and hit her 15-year-old male friend who tried to intervene.

The two children were attacked by DiRenzo at a park in Stuyvesant Square between the intersection of East 16th Street and Perlman Place, police say 

Nathaniel DiRenzo was allegedly captured assaulting an 11-year-old at a Stuyvesant Square park on Wednesday afternoon

 The cellphone video had captured the beginning of the incident where the three dog walkers were screaming at the children who continued to throw dirt at them.

It was not long before the male dog walker, sporting a beard and sunglasses, then approached a gate.

‘All your kids are throwing f**king dirt and f**king poppers!’ DiRenzo allegedly yelled at the chaperone.

‘We’ve already had to call 911 on them. Grip her the f**k up before I put my hands on her.’  

 ‘All your kids are throwing f**king dirt and f**king poppers!’ DiRenzo allegedly yelled at the chaperone

The children continued to throw dirt at them while their chaperone tried to get them under control

The chaperone then attempted to get the children out of the dispute and back to the school building before the situation escalated further.

‘What school do they go to? They’re psychos,’ the other male dog walker had asked.

DiRenzo then allegedly added that the chaperone was an ’embarrassment’ for his lack of control over the rowdy students.

 The 11-year-old girl then marched towards the suspect before he viciously began attacking her in front of her classmates.

‘You fat little bi**h you’re not going to amount to anything in life,’ DiRenzo had yelled at her before the attack.

The 11-year-old girl had approached the man after DiRenzo yelled and swore at her and her classmates for throwing dirt and poppers on the ground 

He then began punching her in the face, spraying her with water and even grabbing her by the hair in anger.

The girl’s 15-year-old male friend was also hit when he attempted to stop the fight.

Other onlookers and dog walkers were in complete shock as they witnessed the horrifying incident.

‘I didn’t know what was going on, so me and another guy got in the middle of it and broke it up,’ dog walker Peter Ghiorse told ABC. ‘I think he heard the sirens, and he booked it.’

Police distributed photos of DiRenzo after he hit the 11-year-old girl and her 15-year-old male friend who attempted to intervene

 ‘I hope they find this man,’ a witness named Rachel said on Friday, before DiRenzo was apprehended. ‘This man grabbed her by the neck, her chest, and punched her in the head. Eleven-year-old black young girl. This is not normal. He’s dangerous.’ 

The young girl was taken to Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital for her injuries but was found to be in stable condition.

Her other friend who was attacked was treated for minor injuries at the scene.