EAST HARLEM — A man threw hot coffee at a police officer and punched the officer, then bit another officer's hand while resisting arrest in a Lexington Avenue deli, police said.
Kenneth Wright, 46, was suspected of beating a 26-year-old man with a cane inside 2058 Deli between East 124th and East 125th streets about 5:30 p.m. Dec. 16. About an hour later, when Wright returned to the scene, witnesses called the police, according to the NYPD.
When the officers tried to arrest him, Wright threw a cup of hot coffee at an officer’s face and then punched him, leaving a bruise on the left side of the policeman's face. He then bit the right hand of another officer.
An employee at the deli declined to comment.
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The bite was so strong that it broke the officer’s skin. The officer is being treated with a "cocktail" of medicines to protect him from possible infections, sources said.
Wright was charged with two felony counts of assault. He is being held on a $150,000 bond and is due in New York Supreme Court on Jan. 22.
Wright’s attorney at Neighborhood Defender Service could not be reached.
Other notable crimes in the 25 Precinct include:
► One person stole $1,000 from the vice principal's office of St. Paul's Catholic School on 114 East 118th St. The suspect, who has not been identified, entered the school through an entrance at the church next door on Dec. 21. He walked to the office on the second floor and took the money out of a drawer.
The school was not immediately available to comment.
► An unspecified argument over religion at the Manhattan Psychiatric Center turned violent when a man broke a 50-year-old's nose and fractured his eye socket, police said. Torbert Gilliam, 56, was arguing with the victim at 600 East 125th St. on Dec. 22. He punched the victim at least five times and also knocked two of his teeth out, according to the criminal complaint.
Gilliam was charged with assault and is due in court Jan. 8. He is being held in Rikers Island on a $500 bond. His lawyer could not be reached.
► Three teenagers attacked a 66-year-old man who was sitting on a bench at East 123rd Street and Third Avenue, police saod. The teens walked up to the man and demanded his phone and money. When the victim refused, one teenager grabbed his coffee and tossed it at him. Another teen grabbed a stick and tried to attack him with it.
The 15-year-old who grabbed the stick was booked. The other two have not been arrested.
