Nearly two weeks after two New York City police officers were attacked by a group of immigrants, only one suspect remains in custody, while four others were arrested and charged after being released without bail. Questions remain about what will happen to him.
Yoenly Brito, 24, was arrested days after the Jan. 27 incident in which two NYPD officers attempting to disperse a crowd in Times Square repeatedly kicked and punched him during a struggle on the ground. Ta. He remains incarcerated at Rikers Island.
Immediately after the scuffle, police officers arrested Darwin Andres Gomez Izquiel, 19, Wilson Juarez, 21, Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19, and Yeoman Rebelon, 24. Four suspects were arrested.
All four were quickly released, enraging law enforcement and some city leaders.
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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)
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that it had secured indictments against seven suspects.
Arocha, Gomez-Izquiel and Rebelon are all charged with two counts each of second-degree assault and obstruction of governmental administration. Juarez is charged with tampering with physical evidence and hindering his prosecution. He is suspected of exchanging jackets with one of the other suspects to evade investigators.
Brito, who appeared to have struggled with officers at the scene, faces the most charges announced: two counts of second-degree assault, obstruction of administrative execution, tampering with physical evidence and hindering prosecution.
The prosecutor’s office has not disclosed the charges or charges against the other two people indicted. Authorities released body camera and street camera footage of the attack on Thursday.
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Yoenly Brito will appear for arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on February 1st. He was charged with assaulting a police officer in Times Square and is being held on Rikers Island. (Curtis Means/Daily Mail Pool)
Reports surfaced that Gómez-Izquiel, Juarez, Arocha, and Leveron fled to California after being released from police custody. Law enforcement sources told the New York Post that the group recently fled to California after giving false names to a nonprofit organization that transports migrants, after which U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested the men. A warrant has been issued for the.
“In recent days, there have been rumors that the four individuals mentioned above have left the city and been taken into custody by federal authorities,” the prosecutor’s office said in a news release Thursday.
The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that it has notified New York authorities that the four people arrested in Arizona are not connected to the case involving two New York City police officers.
Alvin Bragg, a spokesman for the Manhattan prosecutor’s office, declined to comment on the possibility of seeking bail for the four New York immigrants arrested, saying, “We will not discuss bail until after their arraignment in Supreme Court.”
Mayor Eric Adams (left) and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg listen during a press conference announcing multiple charges against immigrants involved in the police attack in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Authorities believe 11 people may have been involved in the attack. In addition to the seven people charged, three others remain unidentified, officials said. Another suspect, João Boada, 22, was later arrested and taken into custody. Turn off Reporters upon release. He has not been charged as prosecutors continue to investigate his role.
Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said the seven charges “mean nothing unless these individuals appear in a Manhattan courtroom.”
“Some of these people may be thousands of miles away at this point,” he said in a statement. “The NYPD will arrest those who fail to turn themselves in, but they don’t have to.” “They should be in jail. It’s not justice until they’re all in jail.”
FOX News Digital has contacted the NYPD regarding the whereabouts of the four suspects.
