Uniformed officer allegedly slashed with box cutter while responding to fight at subway station
BRONX, New York (WABC) -- Two men are being held on $40,000 cash bail for allegedly assaulting a uniformed NYPD lieutenant as he was responding to a fight at a Bronx subway station.
According to police, Lt. Gypsy Pichardo, a 16-year veteran of the NYPD, was slashed with a boxcutter and suffered injuries that required eight stitches to his swollen left eye.
Marquise Webb and Brian Innocent, both 24 years old, have been charged in connection with the alleged attack.
On Saturday, Webb and Innocent were allegedly involved in a knife fight between two groups when police responded to 238th Street station around 9:45 p.m., police say.
Video obtained by Eyewitness News shows Pichardo entrapped within the group of men as they fight, and that is when police say he was slashed.
According to police, Webb and Innocent punched Lt. Pichardo in the face and head before fleeing.
Pichardo then chased after them, and the two were caught by a group of officers including Pichardo.
The complaint filed says Webb and Innocent "refused several commands to place their hands behind their backs."
"This officer went in, then he gets jumped," Turco said. "He still has the fortitude to get out and chase these individuals. This guy, what he did, I'd say it's heroic."
But there is one part of the video that remains unclear. At the beginning when Pichardo is being overpowered, another officer is seen standing a few feet back, just standing there.
"It's not fair for me to jump in and second guess what he was doing," Turco said. "That's all subject to investigation and the department will speak to that."
Lt. Pichardo was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
"He's home now," said Louis Turco, President of the Lieutenant's Benevolent Association. "He has stitches in two places in his face. He's going to a specialist for his eye. He's recovering, but the video speaks for itself. It was a viscous attack by these individuals."
Webb, from Yonkers, and Innocent, from New Rochelle, were charged with assault, resisting arrest, harassment and obstructing governmental administration.
Innocent was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon when police say they recovered a knife, a box cutter and a straight razor at the scene.
Both men were arraigned Sunday night in Bronx Criminal Court and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Detectives are still looking for the other members of the group who allegedly fled the scene.
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