Four teens indicted for attacking NYPD officers

Four teenagers were indicted on Tuesday, March 17 in connection with an attack on two NYPD officers outside of a Bensonhurst home last month, according to District Attorney Ken Thompson.

“These teenagers allegedly attacked two off-duty police officers who identified themselves and simply asked the teens – in the early hours of a Sunday morning – to stop jumping on cars and making a lot of noise in a residential neighborhood,” said Thompson. “We will now seek to hold them accountable for their conduct.”

According to documents from the DA’s office, Daniel Alessandrino, an off-duty NYPD detective, heard a “rowdy” group of teenagers outside of his home at around midnight on Sunday, February 8. When he went outside to check on the disturbance, he was joined by his girlfriend, Jaline Bernier, an NYPD officer as well.

When the pair approached the teens and asked them to quiet down, one of the defendants, identified as 17-year-old Joseph Nacmias, threatened them and after learning that they were off-duty officers, said “I don’t care. I’ll kill a cop. A cop is going to die tonight.”

Alessandrino suffered severe cuts and bruising to his head, arms, knee, chest, shoulder and several broken teeth after the group of about 15 teens attacked him. Bernier suffered from swelling and pain in her face.

The district attorney identified the other defendants as Jason Chalhon, Vito Morgera and Michael Peterson. The 17-year-olds are “variously charged in a six-count indictment with second-degree assault, third-degree assault, resisting arrest and unlawful possession of marijuana,” according to the DA’s office. They will be arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court at a later date. They could face a penalty of up to seven years in prison.