A random attacker took an ill-advised swing at an NYPD officer outside his Bronx police precinct Tuesday afternoon, cops said.
Clarence Joe, 34, approached Officer Shiraz Bagaru as he was working a stationhouse security post outside the 40th Precinct in Mott Haven about 3:50 p.m., according to police.
Surveillance video showed Joe from multiple angles as he suddenly punched Bagaru. The officer and another cop then immediately wrestled him to the ground outside the Alexander Ave. stationhouse.
“Police work is unpredictable and dangerous as we saw today when a violent criminal assaulted an officer in front of a station house in the #Bronx,” NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan tweeted Tuesday. “Fortunately, our great cops weren’t seriously hurt and they did a tremendous job arresting the man so he can’t hurt any New Yorker.”
Joe, who was carrying crack cocaine, was charged with assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a controlled substance and harassment, police said. He was taken to Lincoln Hospital for a psychological evaluation.
The officer’s lips swelled up from the punch, cop sources said. He was treated by EMS responders at the scene.
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