No-bail bounce in cop ‘assault’
Judge’s 2nd spring in a week
A Manhattan judge let a career criminal on lifetime parole — who allegedly punched one cop and tried to bite another — waltz out of his court without bail. It was the second time this week the jurist let a recidivist walk free, The Post has learned.
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Paul McDonnell (inset) released Nathaniel Turner even though a prosecutor asked for $20,000 bail. Turner was instead given supervised release despite having been placed on lifetime parole for robbery in December, according to sources.
McDonnell, who was appointed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio, also let a serial shoplifter free on supervised release after she was hit with 37 criminal charges.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said the parole system is “broken” — and “judges like this refuse to protect the public.”
“All we have are two revolving doors — one putting violent criminals back on the streets, and another putting cops and innocent victims in the hospital. It has to change,” the union leader said.
Turner, 55, was busted after he was allegedly spotted getting ready to smoke crack on West 36th Street Wednesday afternoon, sources said.
He ran from officers, who caught up to him and he allegedly socked one of them in the face, sending the cop to the hospital to be treated for swelling and bruising. Turner attempted to bite another cop who used a Taser to subdue him, according to sources.
‘Felony against officer’
He was arraigned on charges of felony assault to a police officer, attempted assault and criminal possession of a controlled substance.
“Defendant also has an extensive criminal history, including four violent felony convictions, one nonviolent felony conviction, six misdemeanor convictions, two failures to appear, an escape charge, a probation revocation, and three parole revocations,” prosecutor Nicole Hoehle said.
Turner, a resident of the Bellevue Men’s Shelter, had been arrested in 2019 for allegedly assaulting a cop on the roof of a NYCHA building, sources said.
A spokesman for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office did not return a request for comment Saturday.
“Our criminal justice reform laws give the arraigning judge narrow discretion and require them to consider both the least restrictive form of pretrial detention and if a monetary amount is set — that it be within the defendant’s ability to meet it,” said Lucian Chalfen, a court system spokesman.
Law enforcement sources were dismayed by the move.
“Someone has to die now before anyone spends a night in jail,” one source fumed.
The case comes after the nobail release of paroled, convicted sex offender Bui Van Phu, who was accused this month of sucker-punching a 52-year-old. He wasn’t brought back into custody until Gov. Hochul intervened.