Queens man accused of attacking 9-year-old girl, biting off NYPD officer's finger
QUEENS (WABC) -- A man in Queens was charged with biting off part of the finger of an off-duty NYPD officer who was helping a child who was brutally beaten.
The day before Mother's Day, a 9-year-old girl was standing with her mom on the corner of Central Avenue and 67th Place in Glendale, Queens, when a man approached her, asked her name and then hit her in the face, knocking the child to the ground.
The attack was also caught on camera and is disturbing.
According to the Queens district attorney, the attack left the girl bleeding from her lip and arm and even made some of her teeth loose.
The violence didn't end there.
"A sergeant who was off duty at the time, did what good Samaritans do, but also did what good police officers do, is he followed the person, he approached him," Queens DA Melinda Katz said.
The suspect, 31-year-old Feliz Enrique, then proceeded to bite Officer Sebastian Hajder on the knee, hand and then the tip of his finger, which was bitten clean off.
Doctors were unable to reattach it.
The suspect was arraigned on a grand jury indictment charging him with assault, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child.
Enrique was on parole after spending seven years in prison for attempted murder.
The 9-year-old girl is home and doing OK, but her family is understandably distraught.
Community members say they are also disturbed.
"For a grown man to strike a little girl like that is that's a little outrageous and to bite off a cop finger," Sharif Person said.
Katz said after the attack, Enrique told officials, "This isn't the first time its happened, I beat up her father. Yeah I punched her."
He also described eating the officer's finger.
He remains in custody and is being evaluated to see if he is mentally fit for trial.
Enrique was ordered to return to court on July 10. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
As the investigation continues into why these deeply distressing acts of violence happened in the first place.
"I hate to think that we're all living in fear every day. I think it's helpful to know that we try to keep our kids safe, try to keep ourselves and our families safe. But when we can't and something happens like this, there will be accountability for it," Katz said.
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