Cops nab assailant who rammed woman’s head into Central Park tree: NYPD
An eagle-eyed Brooklyn cop helped bust a Central Park mugger whose face he recognized from a wanted poster, police said Saturday.
Juan Garcia, 24, is charged for the unprovoked April 6 attack near the park’s reservoir in which he allegedly slammed a woman’s head repeatedly into a tree near the running track that circles Central Park’s reservoir.
The victim was walking through the park just before 6 a.m. when Garcia approached, cops said.
The 5-foot-4, 140-pound suspect tried to strike up a conversation with the woman, but when she ignored him, he attacked her in a rage, said police.
Garcia is accused of pushing the woman off the running track and ramming her head against a tree four times, says a complaint in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Medics called to the scene took the woman to a local hospital, where she was treated and released. Her injuries included scrapes and bruises to her face, a criminal complaint said.
Police used surveillance video to track the suspect as he bicycled out of the park and headed to the E. 86th St. and Lexington Ave. subway station. The video helped them make a sketch of the man, which they published on a wanted poster.
A Brooklyn cop recognized Garcia’s face in the poster. On March 25, the officer had arrested Garcia in East New York for snatching a bottle of liquor, said police sources and the criminal complaint.
Garcia lives in the Bronx, about six miles from the park, cops said.
A judge ordered Garcia held on $50,000 cash or $100,000 bond.
