By Shayna Jacobs and Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Staff
MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT — Three people were arrested and charged in connection with the assault of a police officer in East Harlem after one of them struck the officer in the face, fracturing his eye socket, police said.
Housing officer Pavel Gomez asked Ryesheyna Wilkerson, 25, for ID Monday after noticing that her pit bull was unleashed on Wagner Houses property at East 120th Street near Pleasant Avenue, police said.
Gomez tried to arrest Wilkerson and she resisted, flailing her arms and screaming, according to prosecutors.
"I'm not giving you any information you f---ing cops are always harassing me, f--- you I hate the police," Wilkerson yelled, according to the criminal complaint.
Her sister, Rockeema Wilkerson, 20, then tried to grab the officer, at which point a third person, Reggie Santiago, 29, approached and hit the officer in the eye with an unidentified object, police said.
The officer was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where prosecutors said he was treated for a fractured eye socket and a laceration to the face.
Ryesheyna and Rockeema Wilkerson were charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstruction of government administration, and were released on their own recognizance Tuesday night.
Santiago was charged with first degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon. He was released Tuesday on $1,000 bail after his criminal court arraignment.
Santiago's lawyer, Kenneth Gilbert, said this case should call attention to a need for police officers in Harlem to receive sensitivity training to avoid the mistreatment of residents.
This incident "did not happen the way they say it happened," Gilbert said, without elaborating.