By Emma Seiwell, Kerry Burke and Rocco Parascandola
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — An NYPD cop stomped into critical condition by a pair of Bronx muggers who stole his gun was released from the hospital Wednesday.
Officer Chowdhury Nafees was in a wheelchair when he was greeted by more than 200 NYPD officers, who clapped and cheered as he was wheeled out of Jacobi Medical Center. Nafees responded with a stiff salute and a thumbs up.
He was placed in a police van by a family member and was set to return home from the intensive care unit on the same day police nabbed a second suspect wanted for the caught-on-video Saturday beatdown.
The NYPD caught 23-year-old Wayne Lucas in Richmond, Va., Wednesday afternoon after he was named as a new suspect and cops released a photo of him. The day before, U.S. marshals, working with the NYPD, nabbed Lucas’ accused accomplice, Taveon Hargrove, also 23 and also in Virginia.
“I’m pleased to announce that this afternoon, Wayne Lucas was taken into custody in Virginia just as the officer he so brutally assaulted was discharged from the hospital to the cheers of his NYPD family. Come for one of us & you’ll have the full force of the NYPD coming for you,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on X.
Nafees was attacked at knifepoint near St. Peters and Tratman Aves. in Westchester Square at about 4:15 a.m. Saturday as he was returning home from work.
A good Samaritan called police after discovering Nafees, 27, unconscious on the pavement, and medics rushed him to a local hospital in critical condition, according to an online fundraiser created to help cover Nafees’ medical bills and support his family.
The cop was left with severe head trauma, including fractures to his left orbital bone and right cheekbone. He will need oral floor reconstruction along with left cheekbone reconstruction, the fundraiser says.
While Nafees was in the intensive care unit at Jacobi, the fundraiser said he would be undergoing multiple surgeries during his days there.
“He has a long road to recovery here,” said Patrick Hendry , president of the Police Benevolent Association . “He’s going to be on the mend for a while. But I can tell you this, he wants to get back. He’s a fighter, and he loves being a police officer.”
The rookie cop has been on the force since September and worked as a 911 dispatcher for two and half years before that, the fundraiser says.
Nafees came to the United States from Bangladesh five years ago and dreamed of becoming an NYPD officer to help his family, who live in the Bronx , according to Hendry.
“He’s shocked what happened that night,” the PBA president said. “He’s shocked that these individuals, after they knew he was a New York City police officer, they didn’t leave, they didn’t run away. They stomped on his head consistently, and he has a mark on his cheek, as you saw. They took his gun.”
Leslie Lyga , who was in the same graduating class of NYPD communication technicians as Nafees, and worked alongside him in the Bronx answering 911 calls, described Nafees as a responsible young man with aspirations of marrying and starting a family.
“He’s from Bangladesh . He hasn’t been here a lot of years, but he was very proud to become an American citizen and he was very proud to do his part for the city,” Lyga, 64, said. “He is someone who wanted to achieve and do good things.”
Nafees never raised his voice and always tried to do his best during their time working together, she said.
“That was the way he lived — trying to do the right thing,” she said. “It’s just unfortunate. It’s really terrible. He wanted to be a normal person with a free life, to have a family. I hope he gets better so that he can do that.”
Officers used the handcuffs belonging to Nafees when they took Hargrove into custody, NYPD Commissioner Tisch said on X.
[He] is now in the handcuffs of the officer he assaulted, after he was taken into custody this morning in Virginia,” she wrote. “One under, one to go.”
Officials are working to extradite both Hargrove and Lucas back to New York , where they are expected to face attempted-murder, assault and robbery charges.
Cops on Sunday arrested Taveon’s father, Jeffrey Hargrove , 55, for petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property after he was allegedly caught using one of the beaten cop’s credit cards. He was released without bail after being arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court.
Nafees was wearing a civilian jacket over his uniform when the pair ran up to him, threatened him with a knife and beat him unconscious, police said.
One of the crooks swiped the cop’s gun during the vicious mugging, cops said.
Startling video of the attack obtained by the Daily News shows one of the crooks turning back, after rifling through the cop’s pockets as the victim lay helplessly on the ground, and stomping on his head.
“He’s very strong. He’s very strong,” said Ershadur Siddique, president of the Bangladeshi Police Association . “What I seen, you know, the first day, and today he’s walking out, it’s unbelievable. It could have been worse, but everybody’s praying for him. All New York City is praying for him, and we hope to see him fully recovered.”
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