Man Accused of Trying to 'Stomp the Life' Out of Off-Duty NYPD Officer

A 23-year-old Bronx mugger was ordered held without bail Wednesday for trying to “stomp the life” out of an off-duty cop brutally beaten during a caught-on-camera robbery, prosecutors said.

Taevon Hargrove said nothing as he was brought to Bronx Criminal Court to be arraigned on attempted murder, attempted robbery and assault charges for the May 24 attack against Police Officer Chowdhury Nafees, officials said.

Hargrove was caught in Virginia and spent a month fighting his extradition back to New York to face criminal charges, officials said. His accomplice, Wayne Lucas, was also caught in Virginia and was extradited and charged on June 5, officials said.

During his arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Paul Irace said Hargrove and Lucas attacked the cop at knifepoint near St. Peters and Tratman Aves. in Westchester Square around 4:15 a.m.

The pair ran up to Nafees, 27, threatened him with a knife, and beat him unconscious, police said. They then robbed him of his cell phone, wallet, NYPD ID and his “loaded service weapon,” Irace said.

“He had his full uniform on when [they] ran up on him [and] put him to the ground,” Irace said. “The evidence shows that during the robbery this defendant and the co-defendant learned from looking at the uniform that the victim was a police officer. They didn’t stop the robbery. The robbery continued.”

After robbing Nafees, Hargrove “attempted to stomp the life out of the officer and stomped him so hard in the face that he had a shoe print on his face well over a week after the incident,” Irace said.

Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry, who sat in the gallery with a group of NYPD officers as Hargrove was arraigned, said the suspect landed the violent kick after realizing Nafees was a cop.

“He went, ‘New York City police officer? I’m going to kick him and make sure he stays down,’ ” Hendry said.

A good Samaritan called police after discovering Nafees unconscious on the pavement, and medics rushed him to a local hospital in critical condition, according to an online fundraiser created to help cover Nafees’ medical bills and support his family.

Horrific surveillance video recovered during the attack shows two men knocking Nafees to the ground on his back, then repeatedly punching him in the face. After they rifle through his pockets, steal his gun and walk away, one of them backtracks to the victim and, in a final blow, viciously stomps on the helpless Nafees’ head.

Hargrove was arrested in Virginia a day before Lucas was. Cops said they caught a break when Hargrove’s father, Jeffrey Hargrove, 55, was arrested for petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property after he was allegedly caught using one of the beaten cop’s credit cards.

The elder Hargrove was released without bail after being arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court.

While Nafees’ wallet and cell phone were recovered, his service weapon has not been found, Irace said.

Hendry said Hargrove fled to Virginia and fought extradition, “believing that he wasn’t going to have to come back here and face consequences.”

“He thought he could just wait it out … and then he’d be back out on the streets to commit more crimes like he’s done in the past, time after time after time,” Hendry said. “Well, his hiding time has run out. The only place that he’s going to see is the inside of a New York jail cell.”

Judge Kim Parker ordered Hargrove held without bail. His attorney Yana Roy declined to comment on the arraignment at court.

Before Parker rendered his decision, Irace said that Hargrove had been arrested several times in the last few years and “had been given multiple chances” to turn his life around.

“In March of 2020, he has three separate youth offender adjudications for three different robberies,” Irace said. “Five years ago he was given more than one chance and now he finds himself back here.”

Nafees came to the United States from Bangladesh five years ago and dreamed of becoming an NYPD officer to help his family, who live in the Bronx. The cop has been on the force since September and worked as a 911 dispatcher for two and a half years before that.

At the hospital, Nafees had to undergo multiple surgeries and was released late last month.

“He’s making progress, but he’s still having a lot of issues, seeing blurred vision, in a lot of pain,” Hendry said about the wounded officer. “Anything with going outside, with the light, it bothers him. He’s trying to do everything he can though to come back to be a New York City police officer.”

____________

Visit nydailynews.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.