NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A 42-year-old NYPD officer was indicted on an assault charge for allegedly beating a man unconscious, breaking his nose in the process, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.
Juan Perez is accused of punching a man laying on his back six times in the face during a confrontation over apparent intoxication in Greenwich Village.
Perez and his partner were responding to reports of a person acting erratically on the corner of Bleecker and Sullivan streets on Nov. 10, 2021.
As the duo were en route to the reported incident, they came across a different person acting erratically and holding a bottle of alcohol, officials said.
The officers reportedly confronted the man, told him to sit in a chair on the sidewalk and took the bottle from him.
The man repeatedly attempted to get up from the chair as Perez got in an increasingly heated conversation with him, according to court documents.
Perez then pushed the alleged victim against the wall and tried to handcuff him, at which point both fell to the ground and began to struggle, prosecutors claimed.
After Perez and his partner subdued the man, who was lying defenseless on the ground, Perez started repeatedly punching him in the face.
He allegedly punched the man six times in total, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious.
Video posted on social media the day after the alleged assault shows a man laying on the ground as a uniformed NYPD officer kneeling above him repeatedly strikes him in the face.
“As we allege, the defendant’s assault caused the victim to suffer substantial pain,” said Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. “Police officers are often put in challenging situations, but they must use their training appropriately and treat the residents of New York City with respect.”
Prosecutors charged Perez with misdemeanor assault.
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