Ulises Bohorquez, A Venezuelan migrant involved in a Times Square brawl with police last year pleaded guilty on Monday afternoon and was sentenced to a year behind bars.
Photo by Dean Moses
A Venezuelan migrant involved in a Times Square brawl with police last year pleaded guilty on Monday afternoon and was sentenced to a year behind bars.
Ulises Bohorquez, 22, sat almost emotionless inside a Supreme Criminal courtroom in Lower Manhattan on Feb. 3 as the sentence was handed down.
The massive Jan 27, 2024 Midtown mayhem made headlines last year after a group of new arrivals was caught on surveillance video brawling with cops outside of a shelter Candler Building at 220 West 42nd St.
Police reported that a large group of migrants were “acting disorderly” and blocking the street to pedestrian traffic. A brawl broke out when officers attempted to send them on their way. After things turned violent, the cops wrestled with one man, trying to place him in cuffs.
That’s when the rest of the group piled in — unleashing kicks and punches upon the service members just outside the shelter. The cops were battered across their bodies and heads and were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
The incident drew nationwide attention and left top police officials enraged.
“You have eight people attacking a lieutenant and a cop,” then-NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell, now the NYPD Chief of Department, said shortly after the incident.“Do you want to know why our cops are getting assaulted? There are no consequences.”
The event set off a manhunt for those involved, several of whom were apprehended in city shelters.
Bohorquez was the eighth person to be arrested in connection to the shocking attack but pleaded not guilty to his part. According to court documents, he originally stated that he was under the influence of cocaine and marijuana when the altercation erupted. He said he saw the cops attacking another person and stepped in to defend them. However, he changed his story on Monday and withdrew his original plea.
Bohorquez pleaded guilty to the attack and was sentenced to a year in state prison, something the police union applauded.
“This sentence is just one more step towards justice in this case, and it sends exactly the message we need: if you attack a New York City police officer, you’ll do real time,” PBA President Patrick Hendry said.
Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, another migrant involved in the brawl, was arrested on Oct. 10 by the Enforcement and Removal Operations New York after being released early. According to ICE, he was convicted on July 29 for his participation in the Times Square assault.
