A veteran Yonkers cop was indicted on assault charges for allegedly slugging and kicking a suspect in custody, Westchester County prosecutors announced.
Police Detective Sgt. Hector Cartagena, 55, allegedly kicked and punched the suspect 10 times when he caught up to him after a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle on March 14, District Attorney Mimi Rocah said in a press release on Monday.
“Police officers are sworn to protect us and uphold the law,” Rocah said in a statement. “The Yonkers Police Department was proactive in identifying one of their officers as acting outside their training policies and promptly referred this matter to my office.
“The facts learned during the court of our investigation were presented to a grand jury who returned an indictment charging the defendant with offenses related to his alleged use of excessive force.”
Westchester prosecutors said the suspect was struck so hard he suffered a fractured orbital bone.
The alleged victim was also arrested and faces grand larceny, assault and reckless endangerment charges for leading cops on the chase and crashing the vehicle he was driving.
Cartagena, who was placed on modified duty, was indicted on charges of assault and attempted assault.
In a release Monday, the sergeant’s union said it was standing by the veteran cop.
“We ask you all to remember that this decorated, long-serving officer is innocent until proven guilty,” Detective Capt. Michael Hanley, president of the Yonkers Police Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants Association, wrote in a statement.
“The pursuit started with a suspect who stole a civilian vehicle and proceeded to lead numerous police units on a high-speed chase throughout the city of Yonkers,” Hanley said. “The perpetrator’s actions throughout this pursuit endangered the lives of numerous citizens of the city of Yonkers.
“The detective sergeant was performing his official duties in attempting to subdue a violent felon who was resisting attempts to be taken into custody,” the statement said.
Cartagena was arraigned before State Supreme Court Justice James McCarthy on Monday and is due to return to court on July 31, prosecutors said.
