Off-duty cop beaten with stick & punched
An off-duty NYPD cop was beaten with a stick and punched by at least three attackers on a Bronx street, startling video released Tuesday shows.
The 33-year-old officer got into a confrontation with the men on Lafayette Ave. near Bryant Ave. in Hunts Point about 11:45 a.m. on Monday, authorities said.
Video shows him in an animated argument with two of the men. One of the attackers then punches the cop as another, wearing no shirt grapples with him.
A third assailant whacks him with a blue stick, which breaks in two and falls to the ground. Another shirtless man watches the attack unfold but does not appear to get involved.
As the victim retreats backward down the sidewalk, his attackers pursue him. One of them may have used a bat to bash the victim as well, sources said.
The victim was taken to Jacobi Medical Center with pain and bruising to his head, back and knees.
The attackers, including one who the officer knows as an acquaintance, are being sought, officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said Tuesday the attack is “very much under investigation by the detective squad of the 41st Precinct.”
“I’m also having the Internal Affairs Bureau looking into the entire incident to make sure that there was nothing that shouldn’t be happening there with our officer,” Shea said on NY1.
Cops are asking the public’s help identifying the attackers and tracking them down.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.