Suspect Charged After Off-Duty NYPD Officer Slashed In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A woman was charged late Friday, after an off-duty officer was slashed in a Queens park.
As CBS2's Tony Aiello reported, it had been a routine day in Cunningham Park at the edge of Fresh Meadows, Queens, with men playing bocce and a woman walking her dog.
But suddenly, that woman -- who happened to be an off-duty police officer -- began screaming for help after a would-be mugger slashed her throat around 2 p.m.
Terry Browne of Queens Village took video of the officer receiving aid for her injury.
"I saw all the bocce players running over there helping a woman that was screaming – her throat had been cut. And they put her on the bench, and her throat was bleeding. And they started to administer first aid to her. And then before I know it, I was surrounded by cops. I didn't even know what had happened," Browne said. "She was pretty distressed."
"We saw the cop, and she was coming out of the bathroom holding her throat. She was calling – she was on the phone with 911 alerting them to it," added witness Joe Perez. "She said, you know, a cop got stabbed."
The officer was slashed in the neck and rushed to North Shore-LIJ Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Her injury is considered not-life threatening, police told 1010 WINS.
A police source said a Department of Parks and Recreation employee spotted the attacker leaving the scene, fleeing toward Francis Lewis Boulevard.
The Parks employee helped police locate the suspect, a young woman wearing a bright red hoodie. That woman was taken into custody near Grand Central Parkway and Francis Lewis Boulevard about an hour later after a search of the area.
The suspect, whose identity was not immediately released, was charged late Friday with assault and attempted robbery, police said.
"We did recover a pair of scissors in the area. We're unclear whether or not whether those scissors were used, and we're continuing the search at this point," said NYPD spokesman Steve Davis.
The injured officer is a 15-year veteran of the NYPD, and is assigned to a precinct in Manhattan South. She remained in the emergency room late Friday.
