“This attempted murder cannot go unpunished,” Yorktown friend of Ed Moffett, pictured below
Facebook photo of Kyle Frankild
By Dan Murphy
Most of our readers are interested in stories that come from their local police departments, and to be kept aware of incidents of crime in their communities. We believe that an informed Westchester reader is best equipped to see something and then say something.
The Yorktown Police Department does a good job in informing the community. Sometimes, they add a bit of levity into their releases by calling the person accused of a crime a ‘POS’. The YPD defines that acronym as POS (persons or suspects), but most of us know POS in another way.
Well, there is another POS in Yorktown. His name is Kyle Frankild, 21, from Yorktown. He is not a minor-he is an adult and needs to be held accountable for his actions, even if he is still living with his parents.
On Aug. 27 at 245 in the afternoon, Frankild and a group of others were illegally driving their ATV’s on Hunterbrook Field.
Yorktown resident Ed Moffett asked this group to stop riding and ruining the field. According to Ed Moffett’s son Andrew “They surrounded him, they started doing circles around him with all the four wheelers, and then as they had him trapped, one of them came along and ran him straight over,”
Ed Moffett was taken to the hospital, but we are happy to report that he was able to make it to his daughter’s wedding.
The ATV crew split, including Frankild, who lives near Hutnerbrook. Yorktown Police were able to identify Frankild and executed an arrest warrant for him. Both Moffett and Frankild ended up at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla.
Frankild was charged with Assault in the First Degree, a Class “B” Felony. The last post by the YPD from Aug 29 said that Frankild remains in custody, but we are not sure if he remains in jail for the Labor Day Weekend.
There were others driving other ATV’s that day at Hunterbrook field. Police are asking anyone with additional video or information to email them at info@yorktownpd.org.
“We have reason to believe that several juveniles were present on the aforementioned ATV’s and dirt bikes. If you are the parent of an ATV or dirt bike operator and your child was riding yesterday in the Hunterbrook Road / Hunterbook Aqueduct area yesterday, or on any public property in the Yorktown area, please consider speaking with them and sharing any pertinent information with us,” said YPD.
This case is still an ongoing investigation being conducted by the Yorktown Police Department Detective Division.
The YPD thanked, ” members of the public who have shared video. We encourage the public to continue to assist us with our investigation. It is our goal to speak with every subject present at the Hunterbrook ballfield yesterday. Our team is working diligently to follow up on all tips that have been shared. If you have information or video of ATV and dirt bike operators in the area, please consider sharing those with us.”
Because Frankild is charged with a Felony, the case will be transferred to a Westchester County Court Judge. We will contact Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah’s office for comment.
Class B Felonies can be punishable with a prison sentence, but the charges could also be reduced. Also important is whether Frankild has a prior record. If he does have a criminal record, he will be going to jail for a period of time.
This incident makes us question the parents of ALL of the drivers on that day. The obvious response, when performing an illegal act is to getaway-not confront the Good Samaritan who is trying to protect a Town ballfield from vandalism. Frankild and the others doubled down -instead of speeding away, the challenged Moffett, causing serious injury.
The Yorktown community is outraged by this incident. Longtime Yorktown resident Andi Kermashek-Mazzei has been updating Yorktown residents on Facebook. “I wanted to share as much information as possible with our community to keep everyone informed of this brutal attack by a gang of young men. This has always been a beautiful town to raise a family and we want it to remain that way. This horrible event cannot be tolerated!”
A Facebook page, Westchester Cars & Coffee, hosted by a friend of Moffit, posted, “this attempted murder cannot go unpunished.” We agree. This page also said, “there were about 11 kids involved.”
