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Bronx Teen Wearing Rainbow Wig Charged With Assaulting Officer

By Ben Fractenberg | November 5, 2013 4:51pm | Updated on November 5, 2013 5:16pm
 Malik Cruz, 16, was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon after threatening a police officer with a screwdriver on a D train in The Bronx on Nov. 2, according to the NYPD.
Malik Cruz, 16, was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon after threatening a police officer with a screwdriver on a D train in The Bronx on Nov. 2, according to the NYPD.
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NYPD

THE BRONX — These guys weren't just clowning around.

Two Bronx teens, one wearing a rainbow colored wig, were charged with punching an off-duty police officer and threatening him with a screwdriver on the D train, even after he tried to diffuse the situation, according to court papers.

"Calm down. I'm a police officer," Paul McCarthy, who works out of the 46th Precinct, told the men  on Saturday when he saw them yelling obscenities at subway passengers and blasting music on a train at Grand Concourse and East 170th Street on Nov. 2, the court filings said.

Jay Nelson, 17, allegedly punched McCarthy in the face and Malik Cruz, 16, who was wearing the wig, spit on his chest.

Cruz pulled out a screw driver, pointed it at the officer and started yelling, "What! What!" according to the court papers, before both ran away.

McCarthy suffered bruises and was bleeding from his mouth, the court documents said.

Nelson, who lives on Morris Avenue, and Cruz, who lives on Findlay Avenue, were both arrested Monday and arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court Tuesday afternoon.

They are charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon and menacing and harassment.

Nelson is being held on $2,500 bond. Cruz was held without bail.