Teen brutally attacked
at Mayfair Playground

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

Kevin Govozdean expected he’d be starting the 10th grade at the Philadelphia Academy Charter High School come September.
Whether the 15-year-old Mayfair teen will be up to starting remains unknown.
The Northeast Times paperboy was just about ready to head home in time to meet his 10 p.m. curfew on Saturday, July 26, when four teens attacked him at the Mayfair Playground.
Kevin was with four or five friends, when the four attackers, who allegedly identified themselves as members of the Albanian Mafia, singled Kevin out.
According to Kevin, who struggled to answer questions last week by shaking his head yes or no and trying to get words out, like "Cheap shot," he had not been harassed by them before but knew them from around the neighborhood and at the playground.
The four pummeled Kevin with brass knuckles and continued to kick him when he was on the ground. They left him unconscious and lying in a pool of blood, according to his mom, Jean Govozdean.
"He should be able to go to the playground and play without worrying about getting beat up," she said.
Kevin sustained a broken jaw, 10 stitches to his forehead, five on his upper lip and five inside his mouth and is experiencing neck and shoulder pain.
He underwent surgery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia two days after the attack to wire his mouth shut. It will have to remain wired for six to eight weeks.
The next day, the family spotted three of the attackers on their way home from the hospital and alerted police, according to Detective John Cawley of Northeast Detectives.
The three juveniles were arrested that Tuesday evening. The fourth juvenile assailant was arrested three days later.
All four were charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy, reckless endangerment and possession of an instrument of crime.
Cawley downplayed any reference to the Albanian Mafia.
"There’s not a mob per se — just kids from neighborhoods," Cawley said. "I don’t believe there is actually any mob activity."
For the foreseeable future, sports are out of the question for the teen, who played baseball for the Holy Terrors and loved playing ice hockey up at SkateZone. So is his job as a camp counselor at the Bridesburg Boys and Girls Club.
As bad as the beating was, Kevin’s family is thankful it wasn’t worse.
"Fortunately, he’s not Eddie Polec," said Govozdean’s attorney, Robert Schall, said, referring to the 16-year-old who died of injuries sustained during a savage 1994 attack outside St. Cecilia’s Church in Fox Chase. ••
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com