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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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EMT Thought Prosecutor Was 'Going to Kill' Her in Alleged Attack

By Mathew Katz | January 8, 2013 4:36pm

NEW YORK CITY — An EMT who was allegedly attacked and choked by a Brooklyn assistant district attorney in her ambulance on the Brooklyn Bridge last year thought that the prosecutor was "going to kill" her, she told DNAinfo.

For months after the alleged attack, she's seen images of him every time she closes her eyes.

On Tuesday, Soler, 46, saw Assistant District Attorney Michael Jaccarino for the first time since the alleged incident in November during his appearance at Manhattan Supreme Court, surrounded by dozens of her fellow rescue workers.

But the 20-year veteran EMT said she felt "defeated" by news that the felony charges against him are unlikely to stick.

"I want him to know what I'm going through every day, because of what he did to me, because I don't think he feels it," she told DNAinfo.com New York.

"I don't think he feels sorry."

Soler said that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office told her that the felony charges against Jaccarino, 30, would likely not go before a grand jury because prosecutors did not believe that Jaccarino intended to harm her.

The alleged attack took place after Soler's ambulance picked up Jaccarino as he was wandering along the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge, Soler said, and sources said he was apparently intoxicated at the time.

Soler said that Jaccarino unstrapped himself from a stretcher while the ambulance was taking him to Beth Israel Hospital and attacked her while trying to escape.

"He had his forearm on my neck and he was kneeling down on it," she said. 

"All this pressure was on my neck and I thought he was going to kill me. He tried to escape, but couldn't get out, so he started choking me manually."

The alleged attack left her with two black eyes, along with marks and swelling around her neck. She's been in physical therapy dealing with neck spasms ever since.

"How are those injuries not show proof on his intent?" Soler asked. "It's a travesty for him to be an ADA and to victimize somebody."

Jaccarino was arraigned on felony assault and misdemeanor choking charges in November and suspended by Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.

Soler said she returned to her job on Friday, but had an anxiety attack after encountering another intoxicated patient.

"I was so anxious and nervous, I went back to the station and said 'I don't think I'm ready, I can't do this," she said.

"But I have to deal with this, this is my livelihood. If I can't do this, how am I going to survive?"

Neither Jaccarino nor the Manhattan District Attorney's office could be reached for comment.

Jaccarino is set to return to court on March 18.