Charges dropped against 1 defendant in Times Square police attack; District Attorney says wrong person was arrested
NEW YORK -- Another suspect in the January attack on two police officers in Times Square was arraigned in Manhattan criminal court late Friday after the district attorney dropped charges against another suspect.
Marcelino Estee, 25, was arrested Thursday. He's been living at the same migrant shelter in Midtown as several of his co-defendants.
He takes the place in this case of Jhoan Boada, who was arrested back in January for assault and has now been exonerated.
Surveillance video from the Jan. 27 incident shows an individual in a black-and-white jacket repeatedly kicking an officer on the ground. The Manhattan district attorney's office now says they believe that individual is Estee, not Boada, as they initially suspected.
Prosecutors said officers arrested him after recognizing him from wanted posters. They claim he had posted photos on social media wearing the same clothes as the man in the video, and after initially denying his role in this case, prosecutors say Estee later admitted that was him.
The DA's office says at the time, they did not ask for bail for Boada because they weren't sure they had the right guy, so he was released from custody. Now, the DA is moving to dismiss the complaint against him.
Estee, who came to New York from Venezuela about seven months ago, is charged with assaulting a police officer and is being held on $15,000 bail. He is the sixth suspect in custody in this case.
Five other suspects -- Yorman Reveron, Yohenry Brito, Kelvin Arocha, Wilson Juarez and Darwin Gomez-Izquiel -- are being held on Rikers Island.
Reveron, Brito, Arocha and Gomez-Izquiel were all charged with second-degree assault. Juarez was charged with tampering with evidence. Police say Juarez did not assault the officers, but he did try to help those who did change or get rid of their clothes.
All five pleaded not guilty through a translator. Their next court date is April 2.