An NYPD officer brutally assaulted and robbed of his gun in the Bronx has a long road to recovery, but the victim’s brother said he is more concerned about the attack’s mental toll on the cop.
Officer Chowdhury Nafees, 27, was released Wednesday from Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx days after he was violently beaten while off-duty by a pair of muggers who stole his service weapon, phone and wallet.
The facial fractures he suffered will require several surgeries, officials said, but Nafees’ proud younger brother worries that the emotional injuries will need more time to heal.
“The people in the hospital did a tremendous job bringing him back from what he was,” said Chowdhury Navid, 25. “We still don’t know the psychological cost. We still need some time to process the whole thing. We’ll talk to therapists, then we will know how deep it is.”
In the meantime, Navid said, his brother has been mercifully distracted by well-wishers and supporters, who have avoided detailed conversations about the incident that could make Nafees relive the nightmare.
Besides the physical injuries, Navid said he has been able to see a marked change in Nafees’ usually bubbly demeanor.
“He’s not that jolly fellow,” he said. “Now I think he is silent. He is contrary.”
Navid said the family, originally from Bangladesh, has been leaning on his resilient mother for strength and guidance,
“She’s holding on better than anybody else,” Navid said. “She is the glue that is holding together everything. She is being strong for all of us.”
Nafees was attacked at knifepoint near St. Peters and Tratman Aves. in Westchester Square around 4:15 a.m. Saturday as he was returning home from work.
Nafees was wearing a civilian jacket over his police uniform when the pair ran up to him, threatened him with a knife and beat him unconscious, police said.
A good Samaritan called police after discovering Nafees, 27, 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.
The cop was left with severe head trauma, including fractures to his left orbital bone and right cheekbone. He will need oral floor reconstruction along with left cheekbone reconstruction, according to the fundraising site.
The two suspects, Taveon Hargrove and Wayne Lucas, both 23, were both arrested in Virginia.
Lucas, was captured Wednesday night, dressed in a woman’s wig, a disguise that did not fool cops who arrested him.
“I’m pleased to announce that this afternoon, Wayne Lucas was taken into custody in Virginia just as the officer he so brutally assaulted was discharged from the hospital to the cheers of his NYPD family,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch posted on X.
“Come for one of us, & you’ll have the full force of the NYPD coming for you.”
Officers used the handcuffs belonging to Nafees when they took Hargrove into custody a day earlier, Tisch said.
Officials are working to extradite both Hargrove and Lucas back to New York, where they are expected to face attempted-murder, assault and robbery charges.
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.
Navid said he believes his brother was targeted because he is a cop.
The video of the caught-on-camera beating shows the attackers knocking Nafees onto the ground on his back, then repeatedly punching him in the face. After they rifle through his pockets, steal his gun and make to leave, one of them backtracks to the victim and, in a final blow, viciously stomps on the helpless Nafees’ head.
“It’s not that they did it to a police officer,” Navid said. “They did it because he was a police officer. It was intentional. If you want my money, you want my wallet — take it. Anything you do after that is purely out of spite, against law and order, the NYPD and the nation itself.”
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 rookie cop has been on the force since September and worked as a 911 dispatcher for two and half years before that.
“If you ask him what police work is to him, it’s honesty, brotherhood and service to the community,” his brother said. “That’s his moral. That’s what he believes in. We are very proud of him.”
