COP-BRAWL TEEN HELD IN QUEENS THEFT RAP
Sprung with no bail after fight, he faces shoplift charge
A teen set free without bail after being charged with taking part in a caughton-video Times Square melee between a group of migrants and NYPD cops has been arrested again — this time for shoplifting at a Queens Macy’s, police said Wednesday.
Darwin Andres Gomez Izquiel, 19, was allegedly caught shoplifting with two other men inside the department store at the Queens Center Mall at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, cops said.
When a store loss-prevention officer stopped the trio, one of them punched the security staffer in the face, according to police. Izquiel acted as the lookout, according to cops.
Izquiel ran off but was nabbed a short distance away after cops released a wanted poster and charged with robbery and petty larceny.
On Jan. 27, Izquiel was arrested for allegedly brawling with an NYPD lieutenant and cop during the caught-onvideo confrontation outside a migrant shelter in Times Square on W. 42nd St. near Seventh Ave. The attack has intensified the debate about migrants in the city and country.
Izquiel, who lives at a migrant shelter on 42nd St., was one of four men arrested that night and charged with second-degree assault. But Manhattan prosecutors declined to ask for bail at his arraignment, and he was set free. Prosecutors at the time said they needed more time to determine each defendants’ role in the attack.
Last Thursday, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg announced that Izquiel and six others had been indicted on assault charges for the fight. He is expected to be arraigned on that indictment during his next court date on Friday.
Police on Tuesday and Wednesday tracked down and arrested two of the seven migrants who were indicted last week. The five others were already arrested before being indicted. Both new arrestees were awaiting arraignment on felony charges in Manhattan Supreme Court Wednesday.
As Bragg announced the indictments he released police body-worn camera footage that seemed to contradict the NYPD contention that the small group of suspects were blocking pedestrian traffic when cops first approached him.
The video shows most of the group immediately complying, singing in unison as they walk away. But one suspect, Yohenry Brito, 24, lags behind and ignores the officers while looking at his phone, then gets confrontational with a cop who tries to nudge him along.
As Brito walks away, he stops to retrieve a baby stroller on the sidewalk. Body-cam footage shows him pushing the stroller and starting to walk away from the cops again before quipping in Spanish that one of the officers looked like the fictional TV character “Ugly Betty.” NYPD Lt. Ben Kurian then grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and throws him up against a wall before the fight began.
In the footage captured by the lieutenant’s bodycam, Brito repeatedly asks what is happening in Spanish. The situation quickly escalates as Brito tries to escape Kurian’s grasp, with both tumbling to the ground in seconds.
Officer Zunxu Tian then intervenes and several of those with Brito descend on the two cops and repeatedly grab and kick them as they grapple with Brito on the ground, various pieces of footage show.
The cops were treated for bumps and bruises.
Izquiel’s arraignment for the Queens robbery was pending in Queens Criminal Court Wednesday, officials said.