BY JOSEPH MALLIA. STAFF WRITER
Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
A fifth suspect was arrested yesterday and charged with assault in the beating of off-duty New York City police officer Eric Hernandez at a White Castle in the Bronx, and a sixth suspect is being sought, police said.
The six men, all of the Bronx, are suspected of being involved in the beating, captured on videotape, of Hernandez early Saturday. After the officer was beaten, an on-duty police officer shot Hernandez in a case of mistaken identity.
Jonathan Ayala, 19, was arrested yesterday. Already in custody are Edwin Rivera, 25, Nelson Rodriguez, 26, Victor Mercado, 16, and Daryl Massey, 22. The sixth suspect wanted for questioning is Alexander Fontanez, 23, the police said.
Hernandez was shot in each leg and the stomach. He remained in critical condition at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, where surgeons have amputated his lower right leg.
Police said the shooting stemmed from a dispute between Hernandez - who had been drinking and was in street clothes - and several other men at the fast-food restaurant.
After being surrounded and severely beaten, the dazed Hernandez pulled a gun on a man in the restaurant’s parking lot before being shot by another patrolman, police said.
That officer, Alfredo Toro, had no way of knowing Hernandez was a police officer and fired only after Hernandez refused orders to drop his weapon, police said.