Gov. Kathy Hochul blasted the decision to set free a group of migrants who were caught on video attacking two NYPD officers near Times Square last month – but said the state’s controversial bail reform wasn’t to blame.
A mob ganged up on the officers in the shocking attack on Jan. 27 but several suspects were cut loose on the bail-eligible crimes with one of the accused defiantly giving the middle finger to journalists as he left court.
Some of the accused may have since fled to California.
“A number of them, we think, went on a bus,” Hochul said during a Tuesday morning appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
“They were freed because no bail was posted,” she said. “I worked hard to change the bail laws in New York State. Those crimes were bail-eligible, they had a right to be held.”
Investigators believe Darwin Andres Gomez, 19, Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19, Wilson Juarez, 21, and Yorman Reveron, 24, gave phony names to a church-affiliated nonprofit group that helps migrants get rides out of New York City, sources previously told The Post.
Hochul called it “frustrating” even as new charges may be handed down by prosecutors.
“It should have never happened,” she vented. “You don’t put a hand on a police officer anywhere in the state of New York and get away with it,.”
Hochul called out judges, saying they should use their discretion to make sure repeat offenders are held accountable under state bail laws.
“I want judges to hold people and find out if there’s been a history or a pattern here,” she said.
The Post has reached out to Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
According to Hochul, there was some confusion over who the perpetrators were due to the chaotic nature of the situation and the fact that between six and eight people were involved.
“They want to make sure they have the right person involved, but you can hold these people while you’re still investigating,” Hochul added. “You don’t let them out. You ask for bail, a judge grants it and then you hold people until you find out exactly what happened.”
Hochul said the ruffians should “do time” behind bars in the US before they’re deported.
“I want them to be prosecuted. I want them convicted. I want them to do time in jail, and then we deport them because if we just send them back to their home country, who knows what, whether there will ever be any consequences,” Hochul said.
The group was part of a wolfpack of violent shoplifters moments before the attack.
The group is due back in court on March 4, each facing second-degree assault on a police officer — a bail-eligible offense. If they fail to show up, warrants could be issued for their arrests.
Three other men were also arrested for the NYPD attack. One was ordered held on bail — $15,000 cash or $50,000 bond — after prosecutors argued he could be identified in the footage of the assault by a “distinct tattoo.”