NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- An off-duty NYPD officer was indicted on hate crime charges in Brooklyn after he allegedly knocked a man unconscious while spewing anti-Muslim slurs during a road rage altercation, prosecutors said Monday.
Riggs Kwong, 50, faces a slew of charges—including third-degree assault as a hate crime and third-degree menacing as a hate crime—following the Jan. 16 confrontation with another driver at Church Avenue and Ocean Parkway in Kensington.
Kwong, who was assigned to the 70th Precinct and has since been suspended, allegedly pummeled the 32-year-old man following a heated exchange that Kwong reportedly filmed with his cellphone.
Prosecutors said the altercation started when Kwong, who was behind the wheel of a Honda Accord, blocked the other driver, in a Toyota RAV4, from making a turn at McDonald and Church avenues. The driver followed Kwong for several blocks and cut Kwong off as he tried to turn from Church Avenue onto an Ocean Parkway service road.
That’s when Kwong allegedly recorded himself telling the man, “I’m trying to make a left here on the service road and this terrorist is terrorizing me, you’re upset because I didn’t let you make a U-turn, Mr. Mohammed…Al Qaeda, terrorist, ISIS…”
Kwong continued to hurl slurs as the other man got out of his Toyota and took a photo of Kwong’s license plate, prosecutors said. The man slapped the hood of Kwong’s Honda, and Kwong got out and allegedly spat at the man’s face.
The man spat back at Kwong, who punched the man several times, causing him to fall to the ground, where he continued to punch him while using anti-Muslim language, prosecutors said.
The man got up, and Kwong punched him again, knocking him to the ground unconscious, according to prosecutors.
Kwong called 911, but prosecutors allege he falsely said that the man threw the first punch and that he responded in kind. Kwong allegedly made the same claim to NYPD officers who responded to the scene.
Prosecutors said surveillance video proves otherwise, showing that Kwong was the only one who threw punches.
Calling the assault “brutal,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the alleged conduct was “especially reprehensible because the defendant is a law enforcement officer.”
In addition to the hate crime charges, Kwong faces charges of third-degree assault, third-degree menacing, second-degree aggravated harassment, falsely reporting an incident, and improper use of colored or flashing lights.
Kwong was released without bail following his arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court. He was ordered to return to court on March 22.
Kwong, an 18-year veteran of the NYPD, was immediately suspended from the department after the incident, the New York Post reported.
The other driver suffered minor injuries to his nose and swelling to his face, according to the report. He was reportedly charged with DWI.
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