Teen Arrested in FDNY Firefighter Attack

May 23, 2019
The 17-year-old was charged with assault for sucker punching an off-duty FDNY firefighter who tried to stop a group of teens from taunting an elderly couple.

Cops have arrested a teen suspect in the assault of an off-duty firefighter on the Upper East Side, police said Thursday.

More than a dozen fuming firefighters gathered outside the 19th Precinct stationhouse to stare down suspect Damir Johnson, 17, when he was escorted out by detectives to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court for allegedly attacking the 38-year-old smoke eater.

“The New York Fire Department is like a family, you hurt one of us, you hurt all of us,” Gerard Fitzgerald, the president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association said Thursday. “The firefighters (outside the precinct) were just showing the support for one of our own and letting that firefighter know we are here to help.”

Johnson is accused of punching the victim on E. 86th St. and Third Ave. about 9:25 a.m. Saturday after the firefighter tried to stop them from taunting an elderly couple.

Johnson walked up behind the firefighter and punched him in the back of the head, according to cops. The victim dropped face first to the sidewalk and suffered five broken teeth, a concussion, bruising and cuts.

The firefighter was treated and released from a local hospital.

“It’s unacceptable for anything like this to happen in a civilized society," Fitzgerald said. “If this guy is going to be a coward and act like a coward and hit someone from behind, he can face a few stares. That’s OK with me.”

Johnson was tracked down after police released video of six smiling suspects and someone called the Crime Stoppers hotline with a tip. Detectives then spoke to relatives of the teen and arrested him at his home.

After Johnson’s arrest, a police source said the five other teens turned out to not be involved in the beat down and are not going to be charged.

Johnson is charged with assault.

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