A Queens man has been charged with attempted murder for beating an off-duty NYPD sergeant nearly to death in Ozone Park early Sunday morning, the Queens district attorney’s office said yesterday.
Hayden Holder, 29, of Jamaica, was charged with second-degree attempted murder and first- and second-degree assault for assaulting NYPD Sgt. Mohamed Deen outside St. John’s Express on Liberty Avenue, the Queens district attorney said.
Holder “viciously and brutally beat the victim, causing him to sustain serious physical injury,” said Queens DA Richard Brown, adding that Deen, 40, who works in Manhattan, is “currently in a medically induced coma and remains in guarded condition.”
Officials said the two got into a verbal fight outside the restaurant and bar around 4 a.m. that turned into a full-on brawl, with Holder punching Deen in the head and then slamming his face into the sidewalk. Published reports said Holder then tried to smash in the windows of Deen’s white BMW as Deen’s wife watched the chaos unfold from inside the car. The two allegedly began feuding at a nearby lounge, but it’s unclear what sparked the initial confrontation, The New York Post reported. Deen was taken to Jamaica Hospital and treated for multiple facial fractures and brain hemorrhaging.
Holder was held without bail and is due back in court Dec. 2.
He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
