NYPD officer slashed while breaking up fight in Brooklyn

WILLIAMSBRIDGE, Bronx (WABC) -- An NYPD officer was slashed while responding to a fight in Brooklyn Sunday.

Officers assigned to Patrol Borough Brooklyn North's anti-crime team, in plainclothes, responded to a large dispute at Saratoga Avenue and Marion Street in Brownsville around 1:22 a.m.

They discovered a large group involved in a physical dispute, and while attempting to take police action, a 37-year-old female officer was slashed in the face and neck, receiving superficial wounds from a suspect with a box cutter.

The officer was taken to Methodist Hospital in stable condition and did not require stitches.

Xiomara Velez, 27, was charged with assault on a police officer, menacing, resisting arrest and criminal possession of a weapon.

The box cutter was recovered at the scene.

There has been a recent series of slashing incidents across the city. Here is information about the others:

* 2/20-2/21 | The Bronx | Woman, 2 men stabbed in 3 weekend attacks in the Bronx

* 2/18 | SoHo, Manhattan | Suspect's picture released after SoHo slashing
* 2/17 | Greenwich Village, Manhattan | Server needs 120 stitches after slashing
* 2/16 | Washington Heights, Manhattan | Cab driver slashed in face during fare dispute
* 2/12 | Van Nest, Bronx | 20-year-old woman robbed, slashed while walking home
* 2/7 | East Tremont, Bronx | Man slashed in cheek after dispute at subway station
* 2/2 | Williamsburg, Brooklyn | 18-year-old slashed while walking home
* 2/2 | Parkchester, Bronx | 65-year-old businessman slashed during robbery
* 2/2 | Harlem, Manhattan | Man slashed in face during attempted robbery
* 1/31 | Harlem, Manhattan | Man slashed during attempted robbery on C train
* 1/25 | NoHo, Manhattan | 71-year-old woman slashed while riding D train
* 1/16 | East Village, Manhattan | 30-year-old man slashed while walking down the street
* 1/14 | East Tremont, Bronx | Man gets 100+ stitches after slashing attack
* 1/6 | Chelsea, Manhattan | 24-year-old woman slashed while walking to work
* 12/30 | East Side, Manhattan | Employee, customer slashed inside McDonald's
* 12/16 | Crown Heights, Brooklyn | Man slashed in the face coming out of subway station
* 12/16 | Whitestone, Queens | 16-year-old exchange student slashed in throat
* 11/5 | Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn | 2 slashed in head aboard C train

NYPD statistics show a nearly 20 percent spike in stabbings and slashings citywide in 2016 compared with the same period last year.