The NYPD’s official Twitter account posted the video, including a tweet that read, “This video from the 52 Precinct shows a man interfering in an arrest by punching a cop. The NYPD has kept NYers safe throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with historic amounts of cops going sick. We won’t tolerate this kind of disrespect. He ran, we caught him, & charges are pending.”
NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea also tweeted about the incident, calling for the man to serve a “lengthy sentence in state prison.”
“To be clear, this is not disrespect. This is premeditated assault on a uniformed Police Officer…your Police Officer. 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 wrote.
An NYPD spokesperson told Newsweek in an email that the man who punched the police officer is 31-year-old Nelson Jimenez. He was subsequently charged with two counts of assault on a police officer, obstructing governmental administration, assault, two counts of disorderly conduct, and two counts of harassment.
“At approximately [4:50 p.m.], police officers from the 52 Precinct encountered and attempted to effect the arrest of a 27-year-old male wanted for a past robbery, near the northwest corner of Davidson Avenue and West 183 Street. While effecting the arrest, a 31-year-old uninvolved male did approach and was given lawful orders to get back and disperse,” the DCPI said.
“These orders were disregarded and the male then punched the arresting officer’s partner from behind, with a closed fist, causing substantial pain and swelling to the right side of the officer’s face. The suspect then fled the scene on foot and was apprehended a short distance away by a nearby convenience store. Upon apprehension, the suspect did kick the same officer in the groin and thigh area, causing substantial pain,” the statement continued.
The spokesperson told Newsweek that police also arrested Brandee Isom, a 25-year-old female, for assaulting a police officer during the same incident.
“An uninvolved female was given multiple orders to give space to the ongoing investigation and she ignored these orders. Furthermore, upon attempting to be restrained in order to gain control of the suspect and situation at hand, the female did strike the arresting officer with a closed fist to the right side of the jaw,” the statement said.
The man who was being arrested in the video is 27-year-old Yoemdy Castro. He was wanted for two counts of robbery and grand larceny.
According to the NYPD, 7,060 uniformed police officers were on sick leave Tuesday, which makes up 19.5 percent of the workforce. In the NYPD, 2,006 uniformed officers, as well as 338 civilian members, have tested positive for COVID-19.
