Migrant who kicked NYPD cop in Times Square brawl takes plea deal, could land him one year in jail
One of the migrants who allegedly kicked a cop during the now-infamous Times Square brawl earlier this year took a plea deal Monday — becoming the second suspect to admit to his role in the attack.
Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, 19, will face up to one year on Rikers Island in exchange for pleading guilty to second-degree assault in the caught-on-camera Jan. 27 scuffle between two cops and a group of migrants.
Gomez-Izquiel, of Venezuela, entered the plea in a barely audible voice, wearing beige jail garb and bowing his head down as he was led out of Manhattan Supreme Court in handcuffs during the brief hearing Monday. His sentencing was set for Sept. 5.
Gomez-Izquiel was filmed grabbing one officer and kicking the other during the melee, which happened outside a migrant shelter at West 42nd Street near Seventh Avenue, Manhattan prosecutors have said.
He was initially released without bail — and then re-arrested just two weeks later for a violent robbery at a Macy’s outlet in Queens, where he allegedly acted as a lookout while one of his cohorts punched a store security guard, cops said.
He was charged with robbery and petit larceny in that case, which the Queens District Attorney’s Office said Monday had since been sealed.
Gomez-Izquiel, who had been in the US for about five months prior to the Times Square melee, is the second defendant to admit to his role in the attack after the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office offered him and another suspect plea deals in May.
Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19, pleaded guilty to obstructing governmental administration on June 18 for kicking a cop’s radio during the incident.
The cases of five other suspects — Yohenry Brito, Wilson Juarez, Yorman Reveron, Ulises Bohorquez and Edgarlis Vegas — remain pending.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said in a statement that Gomez-Izquiel should spend more time behind bars after admitting to the assault.
“The sentence should absolutely be longer, but we’re glad that this individual is pleading guilty to a felony and will continue serving time for this brazen attack on our brothers,” Hendry said. “However, the important test will come once his sentence is up. He needs to be deported immediately upon release, without setting another foot on our city streets.”
Gomez-Izquiel’s attorney, Mark Alexander MacRon, did not return a request for comment.
