NYPD: Off-Duty Cop Assaulted E-Bike Rider for ‘Almost Hitting’ His Daughter
Police have arrested one of their own for punching an e-bike rider in the face on Tuesday after claiming the biker nearly hit the off-duty cop’s daughter — almost injuring her and nearly sending her to a hospital.
Three-year police vet Chon Huang, 32, was charged with misdemeanor assault on Wednesday, one day after the non-collision, which occurred near 60th Street and 10th Avenue in Borough Park at around 6 p.m.
Police say the delivery cyclist was riding in the street when Huang apparently believed that the cyclist nearly hit his daughter. Police gave no other details, but the New York Post reported that Huang yelled at the e-bike rider for getting too close to his daughter, and then socked him in the face, sending him to an actual hospital — Maimonides Medical Center — for treatment of his injuries.
Early the next day, cops arrested their colleague. Police say Huang has been suspended without pay, but declined to comment on whether he will be fired or not.
The NYPD only revealed the scant details under questioning from reporters. The agency’s public information office did send out an email on Wednesday that Huang had been arrested. But the only details given were that Huang was a police officer and the charge was assault. The NYPD did not reveal information that might have pique reporters’ curiosity — a common department practice when city employees are arrested.
The almost-but-in-no-way-injury comes as Mayor de Blasio has doubled down on his crackdown on e-bike riders — most of whom are low-wage immigrant delivery workers who ferry food to wealthier New Yorkers and police — claiming that they are dangerous. But the city’s own data proves otherwise: E-bike riders injured just nine pedestrians last year, compared to 11,115 injured by drivers.
It’s not the first time a cop has been accused of being overly aggressive with cyclists. Earlier this year, an NYPD captain tackled a bike rider in Manhattan as part of a police sting near where a cyclist was killed earlier that week. Late last year, another cop allegedly shoved a biker in downtown Brooklyn. And recently released video shows police aggressively arresting a delivery worker for allegedly driving recklessly without a helmet on an illegal scooter in Williamsburg last September.
Cyclists say these are not isolated incidents:
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