Ex-NYPD traffic officer charged with sex abuse at Rockefeller Christmas Tree

MIDTOWN, Manhattan (WABC) -- A former NYPD traffic officer is facing sex abuse charges for what he allegedly did to several women visiting the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in Manhattan Thursday night.

Atta Saad, 44, is accused of unnecessarily rubbing up against four women while they were admiring the tree.

An NYPD officer said he watched Saad for 20 minutes and saw the illegal behavior. The officer wrote this narrative about each of the four occurrences in the criminal complaint:

"I followed the defendant and observed the defendant push his groin up against a woman's buttocks and repeatedly rub against her. I observed that there was enough room behind the defendant such that he did not need to be pressed up against the woman. I observed no conversation between the woman and the defendant.

Saad is a former NYPD traffic enforcement officer who resigned in 2015. He was arraigned on the charges of sexual abuse and forcible touching Friday. He was released on his own recognizance.