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The off-duty officer was beaten outside a late-night eatery on Liberty Avenue near Lefferts Boulevard.
By Forum Staff
A Jamaica, Queens man has been convicted of assault in the early morning attack of an off-duty police officer, following a verbal dispute outside a nightclub in November 2013.
“A jury weighed all the evidence and convicted the defendant in the brutal beating of an off-duty police officer, who was so severely injured he could not resume work for approximately four months”, District Attorney Brown said. “The defendant punched, kicked and banged the victim’s head against the cement pavement – even after he’d lost consciousness.”
The defendant, Hayden Holder, 32, of 102 Avenue, was convicted of first-degree assault last week, following a two-week-long trial. Sentencing is set for November 16. The defendant faces up to 25 years in prison.
According to trial records, on November 17, 2013, Holder and the victim, New York City Police Sergeant Mohamed Deen, who was off-duty at the time, were involved in a verbal dispute at approximately 4:00 a.m. outside of Club Maracas on Jamaica Avenue. The encounter included an exchange of words, but there was no physical violence at that time. Trial testimony, states that approximately 35 minutes later, as the victim waited in a food line at a late-night, walk-up restaurant window in front of 118-14 Liberty Avenue, the two men encountered each other again. This time, the defendant pursued Mr. Deen as he walked back towards his car, where his wife was waiting. Holder punched the victim repeatedly and knocked him to the ground, and continued the beating by kicking Mr. Deen in the head and even after being knocked unconscious, the defendant grabbed the victim by the head and slammed his head against the pavement. Mr. Deen was taken to a local hospital. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, multiple facial fractures, injured his knee and had headaches and double vision for months after the beating.
