UPPER EAST SIDE — A 22-year-old Bronx man was arrested after he allegedly shoved a lifeguard and verbally threatened a cop Wednesday evening at John Jay Park’s pool, authorities said.
The incident comes on the heels of the spate of violent outbursts at the newly opened McCarren Pool across the East River in Greenpoint/Williamsburg.
Jose Del Rosario, 22, of the Bronx, allegedly shoved and cursed at a lifeguard and other people in the pool area when a police officer asked him to leave at about 6:30 p.m., shortly before closing time, police said.
When he went to get changed in the locker room, he allegedly began shouting obscenities and threatening the cop.
"I’m going to slap the s--- out of you," Del Rosario allegedly yelled to the officer, according to the criminal complaint.
He was charged with resisting arrest, harassment and disorderly conduct, the complaint said.
Del Rosario was arraigned Thursday afternoon and released on his own recognizance. He's due back in court on Aug. 23.
Del Rosario, who said he was unemployed, claimed he was innocent as he stood outside of Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday.
"I'm not a gangster, I'm not a thug — I didn't harass anybody," Del Rosario told DNAinfo New York.
Del Rosario's poolside outburst worried other swimmers at the 145-foot-long pool at East 78th Street that overlooks the East River and was built by Robert Moses in 1939 as one of the Work Projects Administration pools. Parents scooped up their little kids and rushed out of the pool, according to witnesses.
"A pool patron was seen pushing people into the pool," a spokeswoman from the Parks Department confirmed. "He resisted when NYPD approached him and asked him to stop and he was arrested."
