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Cops Looking For Person Who Threw Milk At NYPD Officers During Bronx Fire
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 5, 2019
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 5, 2019
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Police are looking for a man who threw a half-gallon of milk at NYPD officers as they responded to a fire in the Bronx earlier this week.
The incident happened just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday when a fire broke out inside a sixth floor apartment kitchen near East 171st Street and Grand Concourse. While more than 100 firefighters were called to battle the flames, NYPD officers were called to the scene to evacuate the building and clear the area to maintain a "safe zone" for residents and make it easier for firefighters to get in and out of the building. Tensions flared between officers and the locals, with lots of shoving and yelling, as you can see in the videos below.
Police say that during the chaos, a man threw the container of milk at one of the officers, then fled the scene. You can see video of the incident, which was taken from Instagram, below.
The Police Benevolent Association (PBA) union said in a statement: "It is becoming impossible to do our job, even in emergencies. At a fire scene, we have to clear the area so that FDNY can contain the fire and prevent loss of life. This crowd didn't care: they wanted to fight the cops who were there to help. Thankfully everybody made it out, but our leaders need to wake up: if they keep encouraging cop-hatred & inference with our duties, LIVES WILL BE LOST because we couldn’t do our job."
Earlier this summer, the PBA was outraged after a series of incidents in which civilians dumped water on cops.
A police spokesperson said that two other people were arrested during the Bronx fire this week as well: 39-year-old Raquel Dejesus allegedly ripped an officer’s body camera off and threw it to the ground. She was charged with grand larceny, criminal mischief, obstruction of government administration, disorderly conduct and harassment. And 18-year-old D'angelo Rodriguez, who lives at the building where the fire broke out, was charged with criminal mischief, resisting arrest, obstruction of government administration, and disorderly conduct.
Anyone with information in regard to the incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website, or on Twitter. All calls are strictly confidential.
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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