Police Announce $12,000 Reward After 2 Lieutenants Assaulted During Garner Protest
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD on Tuesday announced a $12,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of seven suspects, in connection with a clash between protesters and police on the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday.
A video posted to YouTube shows the assault on NYPD lieutenants Philip Chan and Patrick Sullivan during demonstrations against the Eric Garner grand jury decision, CBS2's Matt Kozar reported.
Chan suffered a broken nose, police said. Both lieutenants had bruising all over their bodies, Burrell reported.
As CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, police on Tuesday released enhanced photographs of the suspects -- four men and three women. An additional suspect was added Tuesday to the six suspects pointed the day before.
Police said two of the men were in the group ere the key aggressors and face felony charges of assaulting a police officer. The other five were expected to face lesser charges.
"Male number two has a hat on and later on his hat falls off and he has a receding hair line. He's seen kicking Lieutenant Sullivan," said NYPD Chief of Manhattan Detectives William Aubry. "Male number three is the most disturbing as well as male number two. He pulls the officers down to the ground, and then he proceeds to run away."
Police Announce $12,000 Reward After 2 Lieutenants Assaulted During Garner Protest
Police said it all began when Baruch College professor Eric Linsker, 29, tried to throw a metal garbage can over the bridge railing, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported.
Linsker has already been arrested and charged.
SEE PHOTOS OF THE SUSPECTS BELOW:
As the lieutenants tried to arrest Linsker, police said the other wanted suspects charged at them before running away.
"It's a two minute period that goes by where there are individuals punching and kicking our two lieutenants," Aubry said. "Linsker clearly is resisting and there is video evidence that he does throw a punch."
"We do not take attacks on our police officers lightly -- never have, never will," Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said.
Police Announce $12,000 Reward After 2 Lieutenants Assaulted During Garner Protest
Police on Tuesday said they were also looking for a volunteer for the National Lawyers Guild, who appears in a green hat and was working as a legal observer. Police said he might well be a key witness.
Police were also looking to talk to eight other witnesses in connection with the incident, sources told CBS2.
"The principal injuries have been received by my police officers, and so I think it's to the benefit of the organizers of these marches and the participants to work with us to ensure that the agitators and the anarchists that are seeking to use the cover of these otherwise peaceful demonstrations to advance their own goals – which oftentimes have nothing to do with the issues that some of the others are marching about," Bratton said.
He said the extremist protesters "don't like government, they don't like society, they don't like anything," 1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon reported.
Bratton also argued that the protesters were undermining their own message.
"That type of behavior detracts significantly," he said. "This is the second news cycle where you've been reporting on assaults on police officers instead of on the issues that they're looking to advance."
The NYPD also wants other protesters who were there to turn over videos. Officials know more videos of the incident exist because the video posted to YouTube shows other people making their own recordings, CBS2's Kramer reported.
"Even as you look at the video that was posted on YouTube, you see additional people making videos, and you hear people yelling, 'Record it,'" said NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counter-terrorism John Miller.
Even Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has bent over backwards to allow the protesters to make their voices heard without a lot of police interference, has apparently reached the breaking point.
"A few have done the absolute wrong thing, which is they have broken the law. They have been violent towards our police officers. That will not be tolerated," the mayor said on the program "The View."
Anyone with information about the seven people, or anyone who has additional cell phone photos or videos, is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit tips to the Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
Meanwhile, sources told CBS2's Kramer that city Comptroller Scott Stringer is discussing a plan to settle a massive $75 million civil rights suit brought against the city by the family of apparent police chokehold victim Eric Garner.
Stringer reportedly wants to settle the matter before it reaches trial, to save the city and the family of the agony of a long, drawn-out proceeding.
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