Some of the migrants accused of attacking two NYPD officers in Times Square have had previous encounters with police.
A total of six migrants have been charged since Saturday’s attack on police, but five have been released without bail. Police are still looking for at least eight other suspects believed to have been involved in the brawl.
Only Yohenry Brito, 24, remains behind bars after being charged in the officers’ attack, which was captured on video. Police say he resisted arrest when the other migrants jumped in to attack the two officers.
Judge Marisol Martinez Alonso said she was holding Brito on $15,000 bail because he is homeless and has no listed address. In addition, prosecutors said Brito had a neck tattoo that allowed them to identify him as the man at the center of the fight.
Brito was already known to police for a series of past offenses, including petit larceny charges for stealing $275 worth of merchandise from Bergdorf Goodman in October and $139 worth of clothing from Macy’s, according to court documents seen by police. Daily news.
Only Yohenry Brito, 24, remains behind bars after being charged in the attack on the two NYPD officers. The migrant has had previous encounters with police
Yorman Reveron, one of five migrants charged with gang assault, previously charged with shoplifting in New York
Police are still looking for at least eight other men involved in the Times Square fight
Meanwhile, Yorman Reveron — one of five suspects charged before being released without bail — was arrested in December for allegedly stealing from Macy’s flagship store. The 24-year-old migrant was also arrested in November and charged with stealing from a Nordstrom Rack store.
Reveron and three other charged suspects – Darwin Andres Gomez Izquiel, 19, Kelvin Servat Arocha, 19, Wilson Juarez, 21 – are believed to have fled the city after their release. Police believe they went to a Catholic church under assumed names and asked for help reaching California.
Suspect Jhoan Boada, 22, was also released after being charged and was seen throwing the bird at members of the press waiting outside the court.
Jandry Barros, 21, a seventh suspect who was arrested but released without charge due to lack of evidence, also has a criminal record with authorities.
Prosecutors released him Thursday because they were no longer confident he was the suspect they were looking for.
Jandry Barros, 21, a seventh suspect who was arrested but released without charge due to lack of evidence, also has a criminal record with authorities. He is seen leaving the court as Brito leaves the court
Suspect Jhoan Boada, 22, was also released after being charged and was seen throwing the bird at the press waiting outside the court
In December, he was accused of trying to steal more than $170 worth of merchandise from a Burlington Coat Factory in Queens and resisting arrest.
“At this time there is not sufficient evidence that he is one of the people who committed this terrible act,” said Doug Cohen, spokesman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, as reported by the Daily News.
The brutal attack on NYPD officers took place around 8:30 PM on Saturday when officers attempted to disperse a disorderly group in front of 220 West 42 Street.
According to the NYPD, the migrants then began attacking the officers, kicking them in the head and body, while the two officers attempted to pin one of the other men down and remove his sweatshirt.
The migrants then ran away and fled east on 42nd Street toward Seventh Avenue.
Four were arrested that night: Gomez Izquiel, Arocha, Juarez and Reveron. They were all charged with assault on a police officer, gang assault, obstruction of governmental administration and disorderly conduct, but were released without bail.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has said the state should consider deporting the group of migrants.
“Take them all and send them back,” Hochul told reporters at an unrelated news conference, the New York Post reported.
You don’t touch our police officers. You don’t touch anyone.’ Hochul, she added.
Police sources confirmed the men’s migrant status to the New York Post. Several of the men’s addresses given by police are homeless and migrant shelters.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly pointed to the justice system’s current practice of “catch, release, repeat” as one of the leading causes of crime in New York City.
Over the summer, Adams accused the city’s criminal justice system of making the Big Apple “the laughing stock of our entire country.”
New York City in particular has struggled under the weight of tens of thousands of migrants arriving at its borders in need of places to stay and other accommodations.
In 2023 alone, the city had to deal with the arrival of more than 100,000 migrants.
Hochul once welcomed asylum seekers with “open arms” and promised to house them, but is now starting to let migrants “go elsewhere” because the city is on the border.