Plainfield Man Sentenced To 16 Years In Prison For Attack On Police Officer

PLAINFIELD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A New Jersey man was sentenced Wednesday for a brutal attack on a Plainfield police officer without warning back in 2012, the Union County Prosecutor's office said.

Andre Henderson, of Plainfield, must serve at least 85 percent of his 16-year sentence before he's eligible for parole.

The prosecutor's office said on March 11, 2012 the then 35-year-old Henderson encountered Plainfield police officer Israel Valentin as he got out of his car to mail a letter to his daughter at the downtown post office.

Then, without warning, the prosecutor's office said Henderson punched Valentin in the head, knocking him to the ground, and started kicking him in the torso and stomping on the officer's head.

Passerby Miguel Garcia witnessed the attack, grabbed his daughter's softball bat out of his vehicle and hit Henderson with it in an attempt to bring the attack to a halt, according to the investigation.

The prosecutor's office said two other Good Samaritans also helped Garcia distract Henderson until backup patrol units arrived, at which time Henderson was placed under arrest.

Garcia and the two other other witnesses testified during the October 2014 trial against Henderson and a Union County jury found him guilty.

Valentin, a 30-year veteran of the Plainfield Police Division, suffered five broken ribs and a brain bleed as a result of the attack, the prosecutor's office said. He returned to the force after several days in the hospital and five months of rehabilitation.