Photos Courtesy of NYPD
Larosa was arrested on Thursday.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Steve Larosa found himself in handcuffs Thursday morning, a little more than a week after he allegedly sprayed two City Police Department Traffic Enforcement agents with water on a Woodhaven corner, according to police and published reports.
In July 24 surveillance footage, Larosa, 35, at around 2:30 p.m., approaches the two agents, who are standing on the corner of Jamaica Avenue and 86th Street, and unloads water from what looks like a large Poland Spring bottle. Larosa fled and no one was reported injured.
According to the New York Post, Larosa was arrested on Thursday at approximately 8 a.m. at his Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, home by the NYPD’s Warrants Squad, after the Finest received several anonymous tips identifying him as the man who doused the agents. “Larosa has at least seven prior arrests dating back as far as 2003, and several others that are sealed,” police sources told the Post.
An incensed Assemblyman Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven) said last Wednesday that a large share of the blame for the viral dousing stunts should be left at the feet of Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“If a private citizen was physically assaulted on our city streets, the NYPD would have no problem making an arrest. However, when it comes to their own, when it happens to them, they feel handcuffed. This is a physical assault on our officers who protect us each and every day and needs to be treated as such,” Miller fumed. “Mayor de Blasio needs to spend more time in NYC and deal with these embarrassing and inexcusable assaults on our police officers than on the campaign trail. This will continue to happen, unless Mayor de Blasio lets officers do their jobs that they are trained and qualified to do. The 102nd Precinct does a phenomenal job reaching out to our communities and the Neighborhood Coordinating Officers have meetings with residents to address their concerns. I am outraged that this has occurred in my district and I am outraged this is continuing to happen. This behavior should not be tolerated at all. These attacks have already occurred in Manhattan and Brooklyn and now Queens in a matter of a week. This won’t stop unless de Blasio takes the handcuffs off our police officers and let them police. Action needs to happen now to protect our officers.”
