Five men were standing outside this Forest Hills restaurant when three of them provoked a physical altercation with an off-duty police officer from the 112th Precinct. Patricia Adams/The Forum Newsgroup
Two arrests have been made in the assault and robbery of an off-duty cop from the 112th precinct in Forest Hills.
Angel Valerio, a 30-year-old firefighter who lives on Jefferson Avenue in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn and Steven Quinones, 29, were arraigned in criminal court on July 5 and are expected back in court at the end of the month.
Valerio, who has 5 years at the FDNY, was suspended from duty on Monday morning according to fire officials and faces seven years in prison if convicted. It has also been established that the firefighter, who was assigned to Engine 15 in Manhattan, did not know the police officer.
Quinones, of Ridgewood, who was arrested on July 2, was also charged with assault, attempted robbery and attempted criminal possession of a weapon. His next court appearance is July 24. He is also facing charges for possession of marijuana in an unrelated arrest that happened back in May.
The pair was two of a group of five men Olageshin encountered as he walked down Austin Street nearly two weeks ago on Sunday night around 11:40 p.m. As the cop approached TGI Friday’s located at 70-00 Austin Street, Quinnones elbowed him in the chin. Olageshin quickly identified himself as a New York City police officer, at which point another of the men stepped forward and delivered a blow to the back of his head, causing his glasses to fly off and resulting in a contusion and pain.
When Olageshin took out his cell phone and tried to call 911, Quinones slapped it out of his hand. But when the cop reached for his service revolver and withdrew it, Quinones fled toward a parking lot down the street.
Olageshin followed him to the parking lot and attempted to subdue him but Valero and another man from the group followed along and began punching the cop and tried to get his gun.
The men were unsuccessful in taking the officer’s gun and fled the scene in a vehicle parked across the street from the lot.
The third assailant remains at large.
By Patricia Adams
