The 16-year-old boy who allegedly punched a police officer in a Manhattan subway station was free to strike after being released without bail in a violent robbery case just days earlier.
The boy, who has not been identified because he is a juvenile, was released on bond after his arrest Wednesday on charges that he and three others ran over a 49-year-old man on a Midtown street, punching the victim and making off with his cell phone.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office asked that he be released on “intense community supervision” at his arraignment, although they could ask for bail on the top robbery charge.
A few days later on Saturday, the boy was arrested for the subway incident in which he was caught on camera attacking a Manhattan cop after allegedly jumping a turnstile at the 125th Street-Lexington Avenue station in East Harlem.
The teenager was again released without bail on Sunday and the case was transferred to family court, where the proceedings are hidden from the public. Under the state’s Raising the Age Act passed in 2017, the majority of cases involving 16- and 17-year-olds now go directly to family court.
A 16-year-old accused of assaulting a police officer was released Tuesday to a juvenile facility in an unrelated robbery case. Steven Hirsch
During a hearing Tuesday, prosecutors said they hoped the robbery case would also be moved to family court.
At their request, a judge sent the teenager to St. John’s, a “non-secure detention facility” in Queens, where he will have a 6 p.m. curfew and be under surveillance while the case plays out.
“The people have not received the supporting testimony that is necessary to move this case to family court,” ADA Eva Dowdell said during the hearing in the juvenile division of Manhattan Supreme Court.
“We are asking the court for a transfer [the defendant] in the care of the residence of St. John.
The teenager is said to have jumped a turnstile before the violent brawl. The teenager was again released without bond on Sunday and the case was transferred to family court.
Judge Althea Drysdale agreed.
“I’m going to release you on bond because The People asked me to release you on bond,” Drysdale told the teenager. “I just told you I was dropping you off at St. John’s.”
Harsh in his demeanor, Drysdale repeatedly asked the teenager if he understood the terms of his release at the St. John’s facility.
Each time he replied, “Yes, Your Honor.”
The teenager exemplifies everything that is wrong with the criminal justice system, Mayor Eric Adams said. Steven Hirsch
At the end of the hearing, the boy asked the court: “Do I have the right to press charges?”
“Indict who?” replied Drysdale.
The teenager did not give a clear answer.
The boy did not answer reporters’ questions as he left court with his lawyer on Tuesday. He is due back in court Friday, when prosecutors expect to be able to move the case to family court.
At 16, the teenager falls under the so-called raising-the-age law, designed to keep young people accused of crimes out of the adult system. The legislation raised the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18 statewide, effective October 1, 2019.
Under the law, 16- and 17-year-old suspects are sent to family court as long as their cases do not involve a felony with a deadly weapon, a sexual offense or “significant physical injury” to their victim.
The teenager at the center of the subway brawl faces second-degree robbery and assault charges for a June 21 midnight robbery in Midtown in which prosecutors say he and three others punched a man in the head and stole his phone.
The late-night burglary at East 40th Street and Madison Avenue left the victim with cuts to the head and arm, according to a criminal complaint.
The teenager’s case sparked outrage from cops, with the Police Benevolent Association union sharing a video of the beating on the transit system, saying: “Cops are putting themselves on the line to make the subway safer, but we feel abandoned by a justice system that will not support us.”
The teenager was sent to St. John’s, an “unsecured detention facility” in Queens. The teenager did appear at his hearing on Tuesday.
Mayor Eric Adams, during a news conference at City Hall on Tuesday, used the teenager as a poster child for everything that is wrong with the criminal justice system.
“We need to look at perpetrators of violence and this is a clear case of that,” Adams said. “Robbery is a serious crime. But as soon as we catch them, the system lets them go and they repeat the act… When I say we’re the laughing stock of the country, that’s what I mean.”
A spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office insisted that “intense community supervision is the appropriate pretrial decision” in the robbery case, citing the teenager’s age, which was 15 at the time, and said he had no prior arrests. that they know about.
Police sources said the boy has a sealed case since April, in which he was arrested after he was allegedly found in a car with a loaded gun and a crossbow in Brooklyn.
“Our system needs to respond to children as children,” spokeswoman Emily Tuttle told The Post.
The bond is meant to ensure the suspect’s return to court, Tuttle said, noting the teenager did appear at his hearing Tuesday.
Speaking about the boy’s arrest in the subway assault, Tuttle said the DA’s office is looking into “age-appropriate interventions” to deal with the alleged crimes.
“Violence against our police officers is unacceptable and given his age at the time of his arrest we have agreed to refer his second case to the Family Court as soon as possible where he will receive age appropriate intervention and support from needs while he is held accountable,” she said.
Add Comment