Police body camera video released in Times Square assault on officers as 7 suspects are indicted
NEW YORK -- Body camera video just released Thursday shows the attack on two members of the NYPD in Times Square late last month.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said he's identified 11 people that were involved, and Thursday afternoon, seven of them were indicted.
Two of those indictments are people the NYPD has not found yet.
Five suspects are still unaccounted for.
Watch the full body camera video
Around 8:30 p.m. Jan. 27, body camera video shows asylum seekers talking back to police who are telling them to stop blocking the sidewalk on West 42nd Street. Eventually, an officer has 24-year-old Yohenry Brito against a wall. Bragg said Brito was refusing to comply, which eventually led to the group assault on the two cops.
"This assault, as it did to many of you, sickened me and outraged me. We all rely on our members of the NYPD, as I said, to keep us safe and keep this the safest big city in America," Bragg said. "As a lifelong New Yorker, I do not tolerate attacks on our police officers, and certainly I do not as Manhattan district attorney. So, let me be clear, plain and simple. The behavior depicted that of you have seen is despicable."
Bragg walked through video showing what he said was everyone's involvement in the Jan. 27 attack. He'd previously said it was unclear, which is why he didn't ask for bail, leading to criticism.
"The level of review was meticulous, because it must be," Bragg said. "We have to ensure that we identified and charged those individuals who actually criminal acts in this matter. The only thing worse than failing to bring perpetrators to justice would be to ensnare innocent people in the criminal justice system. Based on our thorough investigation, I stand here today confident that we have identified the roles of every person who broke the law and participated in this heinous attack."
Yoheny Brito, Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, Yorman Reveron, Kelvin Servita Arocha are all charged with second degree assault. Wilson Juarez is charged with evidence tampering. Brito is being held on bail after he allegedly refused to clear 42nd Street upon officers' commands.
Four of those indicted are migrants previously released on their own recognizance, including Reveron, who Bragg says can be seen grabbing, pulling and throwing two officers to the ground, and Gomez-Izquiel who allegedly grabbed one officer and kicked another.
The DA said two others didn't touch police, adding that Arocha kicked a police radio and Juarez changed jackets with Brito, who was wearing yellow. Juarez is the only one not facing a second degree assault charge.
"This was a despicable attack not only on police officers, but an attack on a symbol of justice," Mayor Eric Adams said. "We did our job in making the apprehension. The district attorney is doing his job of doing the prosecuting. And if they're found guilty, and if suitable, the federal government should do their job in deporting them from our city."
The NYPD has said, based on neck tattoos and other info, some may have gang ties to Venezuela.
Two additional people were indicted, but are not accounted for, including a man in a blue jacket who the DA said kicked and grabbed the leg of an officer, and another individual in a Fila jacket who grabbed an officer.
Three others are unaccounted for, including a man in a red shirt and white seen in the surveillance video kicking an officer's head multiple times and grabbing the collar of another. There's also a wanted poster for a man who law enforcement sources ay is seen in video kicking an officer in the head and then falling.
"We interact with shelters every day. But as far as targeting them by showing photographs, you know, we have the pictures out on social media, we have the pictures out through the regular media, and that's how we're trying to identify them," NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
The police union president said, in part "these indictments won't mean anything unless these individuals show up in a Manhattan courtroom… . We won't call it justice until they are all behind bars."
Police sources had said some of those indicted previously boarded a bus for Mexico, but the DA says there's no evidence of that. He said one of them showed up in court Wednesday for a different charge.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it arrested four non-citizens Monday who were on a bus from Texas to Arizona. "Efforts are underway to determine if any of these individuals are implicated in the Jan. 27, 2024 attacks against officers of the New York City Police Department," a spokesperson said.
The DA has said they are not.
The DA said he's working with the NYPD to find the five people unaccounted for in the attack.
If convicted, most of those arrested face up to seven years in prison.
No one is considered a fugitive unless they miss their next court date.
Anyone with information can call 212-335-9040.
Lisa Rozner
Lisa Rozner joined CBS2 in 2017.
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