NYPD Cop Who Punched, Knocked Man Unconscious Indicted: DA

NEW YORK CITY — An NYPD cop who punched a man six times in the face during a violent West Village encounter in 2021 has been indicted, prosecutors said.

Officer Juan Perez, 42, faces an assault charge on an indictment leveled Tuesday, said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg.

Perez is accused of punching a defenseless man in the face six times, knocking him unconscious and breaking his nose, prosecutors said.

"As we allege, the defendant’s assault caused the victim to suffer substantial pain," Bragg said in a statement.

The run-in unfolded Nov. 10, 2021 after Perez and his partner responded to a call about a person acting erratically at Bleecker and Sullivan streets, prosecutors said.

The cops found a man holding a bottle of alcohol on MacDougal Street, authorities said. Perez took the bottle from the man's hand and told him to sit down, prosecutors said.

The man repeatedly tried to stand up while Perez called an ambulance, authorities said. After a back-and-forth, Perez pushed him against a wall and tried to handcuff him, prompting a struggle that brought them both to the ground, prosecutors said.

Perez punched the man six times in the face while the man was defenseless on the ground, knocking him unconscious, prosecutors said. The man went to a hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with a broken nose and significant swelling, authorities said.