A tattooed hooligan has been identified as part of a crew wanted for unleashing a fire extinguisher on an NYPD traffic enforcement agent in a disturbing caught-on-video prank, authorities said.
Escarlin Polanco Gonzalez, 19 – pictured in an NYPD mugshot released Monday night with a distinct neck tattoo – has been linked to the Thursday crime at St. Nicholas Avenue and West 118th Street in Harlem, which sent the agent to the hospital with an eye injury, cops said.
The 43-year-old uniformed agent was driving a marked NYPD cruiser near the intersection around 6:50 a.m. when a gray four-door sedan – with four people inside – pulled up next to him, according to the footage posted to Instagram.
A front seat passenger in the sedan can be seen holding a fire extinguisher in his lap. He then yells “Yo!” at the agent — before spraying into the cop car’s open window.
The people in the sedan can be heard in the clip laughing and driving away as music plays in the background.
A fully-masked man in the backseat then appears to say, “Lord Diablo” repeatedly, referencing the devil.
The officer was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside, where he was listed in stable condition.
Polanco Gonzalez has been arrested twice before, once for reckless endangerment involving a dirt bike back in December, law enforcement sources said.
He was busted again two days later for robbery, but that arrest has since been sealed, according to the sources.
By Tuesday morning, no arrests had been made in the fire extinguisher incident.
The NYPD also released photos of another unnamed suspect boarding an MTA bus.