A grand jury has reduced charges against a Jamaica man who allegedly beat an off-duty NYPD sergeant in South Richmond Hill last year.
Hayden Holder, 29, was initially charged with second-degree attempted murder and first- and second-degree assault in connection to the incident, which was captured on video and uploaded to Facebook.
A grand jury indicted Holder Monday on just the assault charges, the Queens District Attorney’s office said.
Holder and Sergeant Mohamed Deen allegedly got into a verbal dispute at Liberty Avenue near Lefferts Boulevard just before 5 a.m. on Nov. 17, according to District Attorney Richard Brown. Holder is accused of punching Deen in the head, causing him to fall to the ground. He then repeatedly punched, kicked and slammed Deen’s head onto the sidewalk, Brown said.
Deen was taken to a local hospital with numerous facial fractures and hemorrhaging on his brain, according to the district attorney.
“We are very disappointed the charges were reduced,” Paul Capotosto, a representative from the NYPD’s Sergeants Benevolent Association said outside the courthouse, according to the New York Post.
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