A suspect stole an off-duty New York City police officer’s gun during a fistfight in Hell’s Kitchen early Friday morning, police said.
Police said the officer, 42, was with a friend outside of the Hudson Market Place deli, located on the corner of West 51st Street and 9th Avenue, at around 4:30 a.m. when the pair got into a verbal altercation with a group of four men, the New York Daily News reported.
Police said the argument turned into a fistfight, during which one of the suspects allegedly slugged the officer and snatched his gun, WNBC noted. The officer did not draw the pistol during the altercation, according to the Daily News.
Authorities said it was the officer’s personal gun and not his service weapon, WABC reported. The suspects allegedly hopped into a Dodge Charger and took off southbound on 9th Avenue.
“EMS took the officer and his friend to Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s,” the Daily News noted. The officer sustained a face laceration, PIX11 reported, as well as a bruised jaw, according to WABC.
No suspects were arrested as of Friday afternoon.
The incident comes as crime in New York City has jumped substantially under Mayor Eric Adams’s watch. From January 1-March 6, crime has seen a 47.1 percent increase compared to the same period last year, the NYPD’s crime statistics show.