Man Sentenced To Seven Years For Biting Police Officer

A Jamaica man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for the April 2005 assault on a police officer in which he bit the officer on the hand.
The defendant has been identified as Roderick McClain, 41, of 104-14 Waltham Street in Jamaica. The defendant was found guilty on April 27, 2006, of second-degree assault and resisting arrest after a four-day trial by a jury of six men and six women that deliberated for three hours before returning its verdict before Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Cooperman.
The defendant was sentenced to a determinate term of seven years in prison.
The District Attorney said that, according to the trial testimony, between 12:51 and 12:59 a.m. on April 10, 2005, the defendant was observed walking down South Road and 157th Street in Jamaica with two very large bags by Lieutenant Paul Galli and Sergeant Michael Cantatore, of the New York City Police Department’s 103rd Precinct, who were operating an unmarked vehicle in plainclothes and responding to a radio call of a robbery of a livery cab.
When Officers Galli and Cantatore exited their vehicle to speak to the defendant, he dropped the bags and punched Sergeant Cantatore in the face.
At this point, Lieutenant Galli attempted to handcuff the defendant but he resisted by flailing his arms around in a wild manner and biting Lieutenant Galli’s pinky finger, causing bleeding and substantial pain.
Lieutenant Galli was treated at a local Queens hospital for his injuries sustained in the incident.