Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
BRONX, N.Y. — Cops have criminally charged a man in a surgical mask caught on viral video sucker-punching a cop in the Bronx, officials said Wednesday.
Nelson Jimenez, 31, was charged with assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct, obstructing government administration and other charges. He is accused of an unprovoked attack on a uniformed cop assisting in an arrest on W. 183rd St. and Davidson Ave. in University Heights about 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The two cops had stopped and brought down a 27-year-old man wanted for a robbery in February and were in the process of handcuffing him, when Jimenez crept up behind one of the officers and struck him twice from behind, video shows. Jimenez was wearing sunglasses and a medical mask, apparently to help stem the spread of coronavirus.
Jimenez ran off only to be pursued by the cop he punched, who grabbed him at a nearby corner bodega.
But Jimenez didn’t give up easily and kicked the cop in the groin and thigh before being taken into custody, an NYPD spokesman said.
https://twitter.com/SBANYPD/status/1247683449034543105?s=20
“To be clear, this is not disrespect,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea tweeted Wednesday morning. “This is premeditated assault on a uniformed Police Officer...your Police Officer.”
Shea said the video was “disturbing on many levels.”
“What he should now receive is a conviction for a class D Felony and a lengthy sentence in State Prison. Period,” Shea said.
None of the officers involved were seriously harmed.
Despite the violent interruption, cops completed the arrest of the man wanted for the February robbery. Yoemdy Castro, 27, was hit with a slew of charges including resisting arrest, bail jumping, robbery, grand larceny and possession of stolen property.