A cab driver in Democrat-controlled New York City is outraged after authorities released a man and woman after they allegedly beat him, landing him in a hospital bed with a neck brace on.
Afzal Butt, 61, said the July 19 evening attack in Midtown left him feeling “hopeless and helpless” with the criminal justice system and blamed New York’s bail reform laws for allowing the two of the five assailants to just be issued a desk appearance and be able to go home that same day, the New York Post reported.
“If they’re not going to put them behind bars, this is a horrible system,” Butt told the Post. “I am hopeless and helpless with this system.”
As a new poll by Sienna College Research Institute found 41 percent of the public has “never been this worried about safety,” Mayor Eric Adams flouts citizens’ concerns, claiming the news plays on people’s psyche.
“Let’s think about it for a moment, how do they start their day? They start their day picking up the news, the morning papers, they sit down and they see some of the most horrific events that may happen throughout the previous day,” Adams told Fox 5.
“Send the mayor the video and tell him die with the shame,” Butt told the Post.
Butt, who immigrated from Pakistan in 2004, pulled his cab over after a separate group of scooter riders threw food inside his cab. As he was cleaning his car, video shows the five attacking him after busting his side window. He falls to the ground and one of the assailants — a woman with long braids — stomps on him. A bystander grabs her away from Butt. He was immediately sent to the hospital.
“There’s so much pain in my neck,” Butt said. “I still can’t move my neck. My arms, my knees, my hips. My chest felt like I was getting pressure on my chest. So much pain.”
Authorities arrested Howard Colley, 35, Natalie Morgan, 51. Colley was charged with misdemeanor assault and Morgan was charged with criminal mischief; however, since neither had a criminal history and the offenses were just misdemeanors they were just issued a desk appearance.
A police source told the Post these lenient rules are thanks to the bail reform passed in 2019, which ended the practice of cash bail for most misdemeanors.
Authorities are still in search of three suspects: a 5ft5 woman with her hair in a bun, a 5ft10 man with an athletic build and a 5ft8 woman with lengthy braids.
A married father of two, Butt said his family is worried about him returning to work.
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