Police Search For 6 More People In Attack On Lieutenants During Protests
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Police said Monday that there are six more suspects being sought in an attack on two NYPD lieutenants during a protest at the Brooklyn Bridge this past Saturday.
As 1010 WINS' Roger Stern reported, Manhattan NYPD Chief of Detectives William Aubry said after looking at YouTube videos and talking with witnesses, they have determined that six people besides a Baruch College professor already under arrest attacked NYPD lieutenants Philip Chan and Patrick Sullivan.
PHOTOS: Suspects In Attack On NYPD Lieutenants
As CBS2's Matt Kozar reported, investigators said a video posted to YouTube shows the two lieutenants attempting to arrest the Baruch professor -- Eric Linsker, 29 -- who police said tried to throw a metal garbage can at officers.
But Linsker's entourage allegedly intervened, and Aubry said the YouTube videos show a crowd on a rampage, WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported. After one minute of scuffling, protesters allegedly pulled the lieutenants to the ground where they kicked and punched them.
"It's a two-minute period that goes by where there's individuals that are punching and kicking the two lieutenants," Aubry said.
Lieutenant Chan suffered a broken nose, police said.
Linsker, of Crown Heights, was arrested shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday. He was charged with assault in the second degree, rioting in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest and unlawful possession of marijuana.
Police Search For 6 More People In Attack On Lieutenants During Protests
The charges stem from protests Saturday night over issues of the use of force by police, including a Staten Island grand jury's decision not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the Eric Garner apparent chokehold incident.
Shortly afterward, lieutenants Chan and Sullivan were attacked and sent to an area hospital while trying to arrest Linsker. He was allegedly trying to throw a metal garbage can at officers on the Brooklyn Bridge at the time, authorities said.
As police tried to arrest Linsker, protester intervened – pulling the man away from police and punching and kicking the cops in the face and head, authorities told 1010 WINS' Kevin Rincon. The demonstrators also knocked the two lieutenants down to the ground and punched and kicked them, police said.
"They were knocked to the ground. They were punched by numerous people and kicked in the face and the head, while the group attempted to steal their portable radios and tear away their police identification jackets," said the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence & Counter-terrorism John Miller.
Police Search For 6 More People In Attack On Lieutenants During Protests
Aubry said three men and three women are still wanted.
"There's an individual that you can see kicking Lieutenant Sullivan while he's on the floor," Aubry said.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said photos will be released, along with an offer for a reward, in hopes of identifying the attackers.
"We do not take attacks on our police officers lightly – never have, never will," Bratton said.
Bratton also praised the lieutenants for putting themselves at grave risk during the protest.
An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 protesters took to the streets of Manhattan on Saturday to express outrage over the grand jury decisions not to indict the officers involved in the Garner and Michael Brown cases.
Chief of Department James P. O'Neill said there were also numerous reports of fireworks being set off on Madison Avenue and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Authorities also said a rear window was smashed in an incident on Madison Avenue.
The melee on the bridge also comes on the heels of a protester who allegedly sucker punched a sergeant last week at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.
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