Crime and Public Safety | Seven indicted in Times Square migrant-NYPD…

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Seven indicted in Times Square migrant-NYPD brawl; DA Alvin Bragg denies

reported out-of-state busts in case

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, right, speaks to reporters Thursday. Mayor Adams is at left. (Barry Williams for New Daily News)

By Molly Crane-Newman | mcranenewman@nydailynews.com | New York Daily News

PUBLISHED: February 8, 2024 at 7:48 p.m. | UPDATED: February 8, 2024 at 8:35 p.m.

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Seven people have been indicted in connection to the Times Square melee between a group of
migrants and NYPD officers Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a joint press conference
,

Thursday with the mayor and police officials.

NYPD bodycam footage from the Times Square melee between a group of migrants and NYPD officers.

The felony indictment unsealed in Manhattan Supreme Court , handed up by a grand jury on
Wednesday, charged four asylum seekers arrested in the wake of the Jan. 27 brawl — Darwin Andres
Gomez-Izquiel, Kelvin Servita Arocha, Yorman Reveronm, and Yoherny Brito — with second-degree
assault and obstructing governmental administration.

A fifth migrant, Wilson Juarez, was charged with tampering with physical evidence and two counts of
third-degree hindering prosecution.

Brito, 24, who’s being held on Rikers Island , was additionally charged with tampering with physical
evidence and one count of hindering prosecution. Before the indictments announced Thursday, Brito
had been the only suspect charged by a grand jury in the case.

Two of the suspects named in the indictment were not identified by name.

Bragg says the seven people under indictment are among 11 people involved in caught-on-video
confrontation outside a migrant shelter in Times Square, on W. 42nd St. near Seventh Ave. That
number is down from earlier law enforcement statements that 14 people were believed involved in
the incident.

One of the 11 people allegedly involved is 22-year-old Jhoan Boada, who has been charged by
prosecutors, but has not been indicted by a grand jury.

Several of the 11 people involved are at large, their whereabouts unknown, authorities say. Among
those are two men in the indictment announced Thursday whose names are under seal and three who
are unidentified and unindicted.

Video surveillance footage from the Times Square melee between a group of migrants and NYPD officers.

One of the two men involved in the fight not identified in the indictment was taken into custody after
the melee and later released. That suspect allegedly kicked and grabbed one of the officers’ legs.

The other unnamed man in the indictment, who is accused of grabbing an officer, was seen in
surveillance footage wearing a jacket Juarez had on when police arrested him later that night,
according to court docs.

Bragg said the indictments came after a “painstaking” joint investigation between his office and the
NYPD. Prosecutors allege that several suspects changed their clothes after the altercation, making
them harder to track down.

NYPD bodycam footage from the Times Square melee between a group of migrants and NYPD officers.

Citing a flood of misinformation spreading about the case, Bragg walked reporters through
surveillance footage frame-by-frame and refuted claims that federal authorities had arrested four
suspects out of state.

Bragg said the Department of Homeland Security notified his office on Tuesday that the people
mentioned in news reports as having been arrested in the case in fact had nothing to do with the
Times Square incident, and there is otherwise no indication the feds have intercepted anyone
involved.

“The level of review was meticulous because it must be,” Bragg said. “The only thing worse than failing
to bring perpetrators to justice would be to ensnare innocent people in the criminal justice system.”

The DA and NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said the Jan. 27 fracas came about when two
cops told the group to move away from the shelter.

The officers grabbed Brito when he refused their instructions and pushed him against the building.
Brito allegedly put up a fight when he was knocked to the sidewalk.

Authorities are yet to release police-worn body camera footage of the dust-up and declined to answer
questions at the press conference about when they would.

NYPD bodycam footage from the Times Square melee between a group of migrants and NYPD officers.

Gomez-Izquiel allegedly then grabbed one of the cops and kicked another one time; Reveron allegedly
grabbed, pulled, and threw the two officers to the ground.

Juarez and Arocha didn’t assault either officer, according to court documents — Arocha is accused of
kicking one of the cop’s radios, and Juarez allegedly watched from the sidelines and gave Brito his
FILA jacket as a disguise. Neither of the officers assaulted was seriously injured.

Cops arrested Gomez-Izquiel, Reveron, Juarez, and Arocha the night of the incident, and all were
released under supervision after their arraignments. Brito fled and was arrested by cops on Jan. 31
and has been held at Rikers since Feb. 1 on $15,000 bail.

Prosecutors dropped charges against a 21-year-old initially charged with felony assault saying they ,

no longer believed he was involved.

The DA came under fire from police unions and right-wing groups when his assistant prosecutors
declined to seek bail for all of the initial suspects charged except Brito. Some Republicans and right-
elected officials called on Gov. Hochul to remove Bragg from office and for the suspects to be
deported.

As Bragg announced the new indictments Wednesday afternoon, a small group of protesters gathered
outside waving Trump flags and signs with messages like “Bragg is putting our NYPD in danger” and
“All Globalist Puppets have to go.”

Video surveillance footage from the Times Square melee between a group of migrants and NYPD officers.

Mayor Adams praised Bragg and the Police Department’s “sophisticated” handling of the case. He
urged New Yorkers to respect the process and be pleased that authorities don’t endorse vigilantism
like Curtis Sliwa but “proper investigation.”

“Throughout the weekend and week, the district attorney kept the NYPD up to date, we
communicated several times, and he was clear on the complexity of apprehending the individuals
involved, and he wanted to get it right,” the mayor said.

“We are going to pursue anyone that commits a crime — if they are longstanding New Yorkers or if
they are new arrivals — and that’s what we’re doing, but in no way should we give any indicator that
the overwhelming number of migrants and asylum seekers are [not] law-abiding and … pursuing the
American Dream.”

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2024 February 8

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