16-year-old boy with a gun bust under his belt was caught on video violently attacking a Manhattan cop after allegedly jumping a turnstile — and then freed the next day, police sources said Monday.
“If New Yorkers want to know why the chaos in the transit system is not improving more quickly — this is why,” fumed Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association union.
“The criminals underground know they can get in a brawl, choke a cop and be back out in hours. Cops are putting ourselves on the line to make the subways safer, but we are feeling abandoned by a justice system that won’t back us up.”
The teen, whom cops did not publicly identify because of his age, had jumped the turnstile at the 125th Street-Lexington Avenue station in East Harlem just before 6 p.m. Saturday, cops said. A 16-year-old girl who was with him ducked under the turnstile, authorities said.
The boy “became verbally aggressive for over 3 minutes with officers” before they attempted to arrest him, authorities said.
His arrest sparked the caught-on-video mayhem in which the boy began to punch the cop, who returned the blows.
The teen girl can be seen entering the fray to throw a couple punches at the officer before a female cop pulled her away and the girl sparred with her.
The fisticuffs left one side of the boy’s face completely bloodied.
The footage cut off after the officer held the teenage boy down on the floor of the station.
The boy was arrested and charged with assault on a police officer, obstruction of governmental administration and resisting arrest, cops said.
He was released on his own recognizance during a Sunday court appearance, police sources told The Post.
A rep for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it was unable to confirm the boy’s release, noting the case had been sent to family court and sealed, given the boy’s age.
The suspect had previously been arrested April 12 in the 75th Precinct in Brooklyn for allegedly carrying a loaded gun and then in the Midtown South Precinct on July 10 for robbery, police sources said. He was released both times, with each case sealed, sources said.
Under New York’s “Raise the Age” law, 16 and 17-year-old suspects are sent to Family Court as long as their cases don’t involving a violent felony with a deadly weapon, a sex crime or “significant physical injury” to their victim.
Both officers in Saturday’s subway assault were treated and released at NYU Langone Hospital, with the male cop suffering swelling to his head and shoulder, cops said.
“He’s charged with all those things, and now in his third arrest, he’s released again,” a high-ranking police source griped of the male teen suspect. “What does it take to get locked up here?”
The teen girl was arrested on the same charges involving Saturday’s incident, though the outcome of her arraignment was not immediately known.