A Boston police union is calling for a “bias-free” investigation into an alleged domestic incident and assault on an officer involving the city’s chief of staff for police accountability and a neighborhood business manager.
The Boston Police Detectives Union is sounding off on Marwa Khudaynazar, 27, and Chulan Huang, 26, both of whom the city has placed on unpaid leave after police arrested the boyfriend and girlfriend at an apartment in the Chinatown neighborhood early Thursday morning.
City Councilor Ed Flynn says both employees should be fired.
Khudaynazar, who runs the city’s police accountability office, was charged with assault and battery on a police officer and assault and battery on a household member. Amid a chaotic altercation with police, the woman allegedly pushed an officer’s hand away before striking the officer’s chest, according to an incident report.
As the officer exited the apartment, Khudaynazar allegedly hurled expletives in their direction, language the police detectives union described as “vile.”
“Domestic Violence and Assault and Battery on a Police Officer charges are unacceptable by their very nature,” the union wrote in a social media post Thursday night. “However, when the alleged perpetrator of such crimes holds a public office that can drastically impact a police officer’s livelihood, the blatant disrespect towards officers is especially troubling.”
“We can only hope for a bias-free investigation,” the union added, “and that the City uses the same lens of scrutiny in this case that they would use if the allegations were against a sworn police officer.”
Khudaynazar, who earned $83,769.77 in total pay last year, and Huang reported to police that the alleged domestic incident at Huang’s apartment stemmed from a date that Khudaynazar went on Wednesday night with her boyfriend’s boss.
Huang took in $70,469.22 last year as a neighborhood business manager for the city’s Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion. He has been charged with assault and battery on a household member.
Huang alleged to police that Khudaynazar and his boss “booked a hotel room and she came here to rub it in my face.” Khudaynazar confirmed to police that she did go on a date with Huang’s boss earlier in the night after her boyfriend allegedly cheated on her.
“We both work for the city of Boston, we both work for the mayor’s office,” Khudaynazar told responding officers, according to a police report. Huang allegedly uttered from the back of a police cruiser, “We both work for the city this is unnecessary.”
Both entered not guilty pleas during arraignments at Boston Municipal Court’s Central Division on Thursday. The city immediately placed them on unpaid leave amid an investigation, and their bios have been scrubbed from the city website.
Mayor Michelle Wu has responded to the “incredibly disturbing” allegations, saying, “It’s never OK to harm a police officer or to harm another member of our community.”
“It is a privilege to serve the public,” the mayor added. “We are all also human beings, but at the same time, our behavior has to match the standards we have to hold all our city workers to.”
After responding to the 2:09 a.m. call at the apartment on Hudson Street in Chinatown, officers separated Huang, shirtless, and Khudaynazar, who had been yelling, ‘please let me go.’ Officers observed multiple bite marks on Huang’s chest and arms, according to the police report.
Khudaynazar allegedly started punching and biting Huang when the boyfriend said he gave her the phone back. Huang allegedly held on to her wrists and wouldn’t let her go. Khudaynazar allegedly further stated to police, “I was biting him in self-defense.”
City Councilor Ed Flynn, who represents Chinatown, also calls for an “independent investigation into workplace culture and environment” across the Office of Police Accountability and Transparency, Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion, and the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services.
“It is never acceptable to assault a Boston Police Officer,” Flynn said in a statement shared with the Herald. “While city employees in these departments must be supported during this time, it’s also critical that senior staff exercise full transparency and welcome an independent workplace investigation.”
“Although the two city employees in question are currently on unpaid leave,” he added, “I believe both should now be fired from their city positions.”