The attorney for U.S. Marine Corps veteran Daniel Penny is criticizing the decision to release the immigrants without bail who were charged with attacking two New York City police officers near Times Square over the weekend.
Surveillance footage of Saturday night’s brawl shows a group of immigrants assaulting an NYPD police officer and lieutenant after being told to move on.
Surveillance cameras captured the attack on two New York City police officers near Times Square on Saturday. (New York City Police Department)
The suspects were seen kicking the officers and running away. They were quickly arrested.
New York City police identified the suspects as Darwin Andres Gomez Izquiel, 19, Kelvin Servato Arocha, 19, Wilson Juarez, 21, and Yeoman Rebellon, 24. (who has two open cases for assault and robbery in Manhattan), and identified Joan Boada, 22, who is on the list. As homeless and illegal immigrants.
Kelvin Arocha (19 years old, left), Wilson Juarez (21 years old), Yeoman Rebellon (24 years old), and Darwin Gomez Izquiel (19 years old) are all New York City police officers. He has been charged with assaulting two people. (New York City Police Department)
Boada was filmed shamelessly flipping the bird to waiting reporters as he was released from custody on Wednesday.
Joan Boada, who was charged with assaulting two New York City police officers in Times Square, ignored reporters as she left the courthouse Wednesday after her arraignment. (Stephen Hirsch/New York Post)
On Thursday, two more immigrants, Yohenry Brito, 24, and Jandry Barros, 21, were arrested in connection with the attack.
Brito was arraigned on the felony charge by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and held on $15,000 cash bail and $50,000 partial surety bond. Mr. Barros was also arraigned and released on Thursday, and his next hearing is scheduled for February 21st.
YoHenry Brito will appear for arraignment Thursday in Manhattan Criminal Court. He is accused of assaulting a police officer in Times Square. (Curtis Means/Daily Mail Pool)
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Late Thursday, the Manhattan prosecutor’s office declined to prosecute Mr. Barros.
A spokesperson for the Barros case told Fox News: “We strongly condemn assaults on police officers and will prosecute those responsible. The question here is whether the person arrested was actually involved. ” he said. “At this time, we do not have sufficient evidence that he is one of the individuals who committed this horrific act.”
Jandry Barros (left) and YoHenry Brito arrive at Manhattan Criminal Court for their arraignment on Thursday. Both suspects are accused of assaulting a police officer in Times Square. (Jefferson Siegel, Fox News Digital)
Meanwhile, law enforcement officials revealed. new york post Four of the immigrants charged may have left the city on buses bound for California, authorities said. Meanwhile, the NYPD is searching for additional suspects in connection with the attack.
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Attorney Thomas Kenniff, who represents Daniel Penny, a retired Marine charged in the strangling death of a subway passenger last year, said the prosecutor’s decision to release the migrants without bail was “very perplexing.” ” he said.
“The main purpose of bail is to make sure people come back to court,” Kenniff said in an interview on Fox News Digital. ”[F]From my understanding, they seem to have minimal if no ties to New York City. ”
Daniel Penny appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on January 17th. Penny will be charged with the death of Jordan Neely on the New York City subway in 2023. (John M. Mantel, FOX News Digital)
Kenniff argued that limited resources may have played a role in this case, but that’s not “a reason not to set bail at all.”
He said the defendants had “indications that they were not willing to return to court to face the consequences of their actions.”. ”
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“Furthermore, anyone who attempts to resist arrest, or worse, assault a police officer, shows someone who has no respect for the legal system and is unlikely to return to court. It’s even lower,” Kenniff said. “If ever there was a situation where bail would be appropriate, this appears to be that case.”
Penny pleaded not guilty last summer to second-degree manslaughter in the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man and former Michael Jackson impersonator, but witnesses said Neely screamed and demanded money from him. It is said that he was nervous.
Screenshot of bystander video showing Jordan Neely being strangled on the New York City subway. (Luces de Nueva York/Juan Alberto Vazquez, via Storyful)
Prosecutors said Penny, with the help of two other passengers, pinned Neely to the ground and held her in a chokehold for several minutes. Penny’s attorney said in a court filing that Neely’s erratic behavior was “extremely threatening” and that the Marine Corps veteran intervened to protect himself and the other passengers. .
The judge granted Penny the same $100,000 bail condition under which he was previously released from custody. Earlier this month, a New York City judge denied Penny’s motion to dismiss the criminal case against him.
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The assault on the police officer underscored the city’s struggle to cope with the influx of migrants bussed into the Big Apple from the Texas-Mexico border.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano, Bailee Hill and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
