QUEENS — A man punched an off-duty NYPD officer several times in the face Monday after an argument at a Queens Pathmark, leaving him with injuries that will require surgery, police said.
The incident, captured on surveillance video, took place about 2:20 p.m., after the 42-year-old officer bumped into a woman the attacker was with while shopping at the supermarket on Springfield Boulevard, near 220th Street, in Springfield Gardens, police sources said.
It came just hours before an off duty NYPD sergeant was attacked in Harlem after leaving a Dunkin' Donuts Tuesday morning.
The two men in the Queens incident had a verbal dispute inside the store, according to the sources.
Surveillance video released Wednesday by the NYPD shows that after the officer left the supermarket, the suspect, who was about to drive away, got out of the car and started punching the officer in the face.
The attacker and the woman he was with then fled in a white Chevrolet Malibu.
The four-door sedan had New York plates, police said.
The officer was rushed to Franklin General Hospital, and later taken to another local hospital where he was expected to undergo surgery for injuries to his face, police said.
The suspect is described as being his 20's, approximately 6-foot-1, weighting about 230 pounds. At the time of the incident he was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and a black baseball hat.
It was not immediately clear where the officer was assigned.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
