Metro
By Joe Marino and David Propper
Published
Feb. 4, 2024, 8:41 p.m. ET
An officer was allegedly assaulted Sunday just after midnight.
Daniel William McKnight
A police officer in New York City was hit in the face by a 24-year-old Long Island man in Times Square early Sunday, authorities said – the most recent attack in a series of violence against the city’s law enforcement.
The suspect reportedly assaulted the officer shortly after midnight when law enforcement responded to a call about a disorderly man at Broadway and 42nd Street and asked him to leave the area, authorities reported.
Michael Thomas, from Great Neck, is alleged to have struck the officer in the face multiple times before being taken into custody, police stated.
Thomas faces multiple charges, including assault on a police officer and assault with the intent to cause physical harm. He is also charged with disorderly conduct and harassment.
The officer was taken to Bellevue Hospital for minor injuries treatment.
In another incident, a second police officer was involved in an unconnected scuffle later on Sunday as officers moved in for an arrest in Manhattan, sources in law enforcement said.
The incident happened close to the New York Public Library at about 1:45 p.m. – at the same time and location of a pro-Palestinian demonstration where several individuals were apprehended.
The officer was allegedly hit in Times Square. Michael Nagle
PBA President Patrick Hendry criticized the recent violence against the city’s police.
“These assaults on police officers are happening every single day, but we’re not going to let them disappear into the statistics any longer,” he told The Post.
“We want New Yorkers to understand exactly what their cops are up against. We need them to hold their elected leaders and the entire justice system accountable. That is the only way the dangerous environment on our streets will change.”
NYPD officers have dealt with several violent confrontations on duty in recent weeks.
Last week, a group of migrants were arrested in a shocking caught-on-camera Jan. 27 attack on two cops in Times Square.
A week before, a motorist struck a police officer with her car on the Upper East Side. The suspect, Sahara Dula, was arrested in the Jan. 18 incident and charged with vehicular assault.
Two days prior, two cops were shot and wounded when they attempted to arrest an unhinged suspect who police said grabbed one of their guns.
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