NYPD Union Outraged Over Release of Man who "Sucker Punched" Officer

The incident was captured on body-worn video. It shows Steven Haynes, 40, socking the uniformed officer across the face outside a Bank of America in Downtown Brooklyn on Thursday, officials said.

A man who "sucker-punched" an NYPD officer on a Brooklyn sidewalk, pinning the officer to the ground and refusing to budge, was later released without bail despite a felony charge of assault on a police officer.

The incident was captured on body-worn video. It shows Steven Haynes, 40, socking the uniformed officer across the face outside a Bank of America in Downtown Brooklyn on Thursday, officials told the New York Post.

The suspect, who police said had been sitting on the sidewalk drinking and blocking pedestrians, briefly brawls with the officer before wrestling him to the pavement in a swift attack, the video shows.

Seconds later, the assaulted officer's partner calls for backup, then begins yelling for Haynes to stop.

“Get off of him, get off of him!” the officer says as she hovers over the suspect, grabbing the man’s back and brandishing a baton. “All right, sir. Stop, stop, stop, stop!”

Several other police officers then arrive a minute later and help take Haynes into custody.

The suspect was arrested charged with assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, disorderly conduct, and alcoholic beverage violation, authorities said.

The Sergeant’s Benevolent Association expressed their outrage on Twitter Saturday at the prolonged assault and the release of the suspect.

Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch slammed city politicians in a statement to the Post responding to the footage.

“When will our elected leaders admit that the streets are out of control? The perps know they can sucker punch a cop and escape with no consequences,” he said. “And cops know that City Hall will not back them up. The situation is getting more dangerous by the day.”

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