Arrest Made in Connection to Times Square Police Assault
An 18-year-old man, Yarwuin Madris, was arrested Tuesday in connection to the police assault in Times Square last month, sources told NBC New York. The arrest comes after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged seven people with felonies and other charges related to the same assault.
Madris was arrested by NYPD detectives and Homeland Security Investigations agents at a building in the Bronx. His attorney information was not immediately known and it is also unknown what specific charges he faces. Last week, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg presented the case to a grand jury amid pressure over the decision not to seek bail for five of the six suspects originally detained.
The circumstances surrounding the attack and those who were arrested have been subject to change, as the narrative has been blurred, according to a law enforcement source. A group of Hispanic men were seen in surveillance footage descending on two officers outside a 42nd Street shelter, but body cam footage released by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office last Wednesday shows the police telling the group of Hispanic men to move, and authorities are finding that the case has more complexity than initially believed.
It was also revealed that the arresting officer, Lt. Ben Kurian, involved in the Times Square incident has previously been found responsible in a police brutality case, costing New York City taxpayers $5 million in legal fees.
The incident followed an altercation where police officers argued with a group of teenagers blocking the sidewalk where some of the individuals were slow to comply with orders to disperse. Yohenry Brito, one of the individuals involved in the altercation, was subsequently charged with second-degree assault and is currently being held at Rikers Island.
The arrest and the subsequent charges have caused a divide in public opinion, with some, like NYPD chiefs, describing the altercation as a clear case of defiance of a police order, while others, such as Neville Mitchell, a defense attorney, believe that the situation could have been deescalated and did not warrant the force used by the officers.
As the investigation continues and more information unfolds, the community anxiously awaits to see how the case will progress and what consequences will be faced by the individuals involved.