9TH NAB IN COP BEAT
Venezuelan woman held in attack near Times Sq. migrant shelter
A ninth suspect has been nabbed in connection with the caught-on-video January attack on two NYPD cops outside a Times Square migrant shelter, according to police.
Edgarlis Vegas, 20, appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday for the Jan. 27 clash outside the W. 47th St. shelter that sparked outrage citywide.
Vegas, a Venezuelan immigrant, was held on bail after being charged with assaulting a police officer and obstructing government administration.
She was caught on camera smiling as she participated in the beatdown, police sources said.
The attack has intensified the debate about migrants in the city and the country.
Eight other suspects have been indicted and numerous others are being sought.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was criticized after the first four suspects taken into custody were initially released without bail. They were later indicted.
The prosecutor has pushed back on the criticism, noting the difficulty of bringing a case in which some of the suspects changed their clothes after the assault, making it more difficult to determine from video who did what.
After Bragg announced the indictments of several of the suspects, 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 officers first approached.
Pedestrians could be seen on video walking freely past the men. 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 grabs him by the scruff of the neck and throws him up against a wall.
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 intervened and several of the men with Brito descend on the two cops and repeatedly grab and kick them as they grapple with Brito, various pieces of footage show.
Video surveillance caught Vegas “repeatedly kicking at” the two cops “as they struggled with Brito on the ground, appearing to strike Lt. Kurian in the back with her foot during the altercation,” according to a criminal complaint.
One man who was arrested in connection with the attack had charges dropped when he turned out to be the wrong guy.
But Vegas, who was arrested Monday, identified herself in some of the images in the surveillance footage, according to the criminal complaint.
Her bail was set at $25,000 cash or $75,000 bond, with Vegas’ next court date set for this Thursday.
The cops were treated for bumps and bruises.