Ex-Cop Found Guilty in Beating of Suspect

A former NYPD officer in the 52nd Precinct was convicted of assault on April 26, after pleading guilty to the 2010 beating of a handcuffed prisoner during a drug-bust gone awry in University Heights.

Ex-cop John Cicero, 30, pleaded guilty to beating 26-year-old Jonathan Baez on a Davidson Avenue sidewalk in January 2010. He admitted to punching Baez several times in the head and slamming his head into the pavement, according to a statement from the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. The assault was captured on video by someone watching nearby.

At the time, Cicero was responding to a radio call from two undercover narcotics detectives who had been hit by stray bullets after a fellow detective fired his gun at a pit bull that attacked them, a press release said. Baez was already handcuffed and in custody when Cicero arrived on the scene.

The former police officer, who resigned from the NYPD a month after the assault, was sentenced to 400 hours of community service. The judge issued an order of protection for Baez.

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