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The second brute accused of savagely beating an off-duty NYPD cop in the Bronx over the weekend has been arrested, the NYPD announced Wednesday.
The suspect, Wayne Lucas, 22, was nabbed by cops as he was leaving a house in Richmond, Va., wearing a wig in an unsuccessful attempt to conceal his identity, according to law enforcement
sources.
“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 wrote on X.
“Come for one of us, & you’ll have the full force of the NYPD coming for you.”
Lucas was arrested by the US Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force along with NYPD task force members and will be charged once he is extradited back to New York, authorities said.
The NYPD launched a full-blown manhunt for Lucas in the wake of the vicious attack on the officer, blasting out an image of him earlier Wednesday in a bid to hunt him down — a day after his
alleged accomplice was busted over the sick caught-on-camera beating.
Lucas and Taveon Hargrove, 23, are suspected of pinning the officer to the ground at knifepoint and then stomping on his face on St. Peter’s Ave. in Westchester Square early Saturday, cops
said.
Footage of the saga showed one of two masked goons holding a blade to the cop’s neck as the other rifled through the victim’s pockets.
Before fleeing, the suspects could be seen pummeling the officer multiple times in the face and booting him in the head.
The alleged crooks made off with the officer’s Glock 19 9mm service weapon and a handful of his belongings, police said.
The injured cop — who hasn’t been identified publicly — suffered multiple facial fractures during the ordeal.
The NYPD quickly put out multiple surveillance images of the two suspects in an effort to track them down.
Hargrove, who already has a lengthy rap sheet, was eventually nabbed on Tuesday by the US Marshals’ Regional Fugitive Task Force in Virginia.
Cops used the injured officer’s own handcuffs to take him in, according to law enforcement sources.Meanwhile, Hargrove’s father was also nabbed for allegedly using the officer’s stolen
credit card at several Bronx bodegas in the wake of the attack, sources said.