Man busted in looting cop hit

An SUV driver who plowed into a cop after he and his friends looted a cell phone store in Greenwich Village at the height of the George Floyd protests was busted early Tuesday, a police source said.

The 24-year-old suspect, Jahara Jobarteh, was nabbed just before 8 a.m. while sleeping in an unregistered vehicle on E. 161st St in the Bronx, sources said. He was charged with assaulting a police officer, burglary and rioting.

Jobarteh was part of a group of young men who busted into I Fix Screens, a cell phone store on W. Eighth St., about 3:20 a.m. June 1, according to authorities

As the suspects left with various stolen items in their hands they got into a Ford Explorer with temporary Wisconsin plates. Just then, a police van pulled up and cut in front of the SUV. When an officer got out, Jobarteh allegedly floored the gas, striking the cop, who was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and is recovering from leg and hip injuries.

Several other suspects are still being sought.

Jobarteh, who lives in the Bronx, has seven prior arrests, including for knife possession, possession of stolen property and resisting arrest, the source said.