A former New York City police officer who was charged with assault after he punched an unarmed man more than a dozen times in the face during a 911 call to help a child in an emotional crisis has been convicted but won’t serve time in prison.
Christian Zapata, 37, was convicted of attempted assault in connection to the incident on Dec. 7, 2022, that involved 43-year-old Jerome Collins.
That day, Collins’ girlfriend called the police to help her autistic 15-year-old son who was agitated and in distress. Zapata was one of several officers who responded to the call at the Harlem apartment.
Bodycam footage showed Collins answering the door when the cops arrived and repeatedly requesting them to put on face masks before entering the apartment.
Zapata told Collins that he was interfering with their response and threatened to arrest him.
The confrontation started to escalate when another officer accompanying Zapata restrained Collins and tried to escort him out of the apartment and down the hallway. Collins swatted the officer’s hand away but still complied with the escort. At that point, the officer grabs Collins’ wrists and Zapata begins pummeling Collins.
The body camera video showed Zapata punching Collins 13 times in just nine seconds. Zapata finally stopped after another officer intervened.
Collins was arrested after the incident and charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of justice, but the district attorney’s office refused to prosecute and the charges were dismissed.
Zapata was suspended from his duties and demoted from sergeant to officer in August 2023. In October 2023, he was indicted on one count of third-degree assault, which carried a maximum sentence of a year in jail.
In a nonjury trial on Wednesday, he was acquitted of the assault charge but convicted of attempted assault and was sentenced to time served, so he will not spend time behind bars.
Prosecutors requested the judge overseeing Zapata’s case to sentence him to 60 days, saying he had “brutally assaulted Mr. Collins without justification,” The New York Times reported.
Zapata’s lawyer Andrew Quinn argued that his client “momentarily lost control” and “threw more punches than necessary.”
“He was doing his job to the best of his ability,” Quinn said during the sentencing hearing. “The bottom line is, everybody went home safe, and the young man got the help he needed. I consider that a job well done.”
The judge refused the prosecution’s sentencing request, stating that Zapata “was already, tremendously, punished by losing his position as a sergeant, being demoted and ultimately forfeiting his job and career as a police officer, and benefits that flowed from there.”
Zapata officially resigned from the police force earlier this month.
“This was a single, abhorrent act by Mr. Zapata,” Judge Curtis Farber said during the sentencing hearing, according to court transcripts. “He otherwise led an unblemished career as a New York City police officer and police sergeant.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg released a statement about Zapata’s sentencing, stating that while police officers have challenging jobs, “unlawful force cannot be permitted.”
“Holding members of law enforcement accountable when they break the law is essential for public safety and upholding the public’s trust, and I thank our team of prosecutors for their hard work to secure this conviction,” Bragg stated.
