The savage duo accused of attacking and robbing an off-duty NYPD rookie in the Bronx beat him so badly that they left a shoeprint on his face, prosecutors said Thursday as one of the brutes was arraigned on attempted murder charges.
A photo shows the badly battered Officer Chowdhury Nafees, 27, laying in a hospital bed with a large pink square grid shoeprint stamped on his face, and in another image, the print had slightly faded but the officer’s eye was sealed shut, swollen and bruised.
Nafees’ disfiguring injuries came up in court as Senior Trial District Attorney pushed for alleged attacker Wayne Lucas, 23, to be held without bail in the vicious May 24 attack in Westchester Square.
“During the robbery, they found out that he was an officer, and they didn’t stop the robbery,” Senior Trial District Attorney Paul Irace said in court. “They continued the robbery. This defendant continued the robbery, and his co-defendant stomped the victim’s head so hard into the ground that over a week after this robbery, he still bore the shoeprint in his face.”
“He has vision loss at this time, he had multiple facial fractures,” the ADA added. “We’re now almost over two weeks after [the incident], and he still is having vision issues.”
Irace added that the heartless pair threw Nafees to the ground, before Lucas held a knife to the victim’s neck and his alleged accomplice, Taveon Hargrove, 23, picked his pockets and stole his loaded service pistol.
Lucas — who was picked up in Virginia last week and then extradited to the Big Apple — pleaded not guilty as Judge George Villegas arraigned him on a 34-count indictment that also included charges of assault, robbery, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
Villegas upheld Irace’s request and ordered Lucas held without bail.
Hargrove, who was also indicted, was picked up in Virginia a day earlier than his pal but is fighting extradition.
“This attack was egregious and brutal,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said after the arraignment. “These two individuals attempted to rob who they thought was a civilian. But upon pushing him to the ground, they found his uniform, learning that this was not just any old person, but this turned out to be an off-duty rookie NYPD police officer on his way to protect and serve.”
“Upon learning that he was an officer, they took this as an invitation to turn up the violence,” the DA said.
Clark described Nafees as “a wonderful individual, a rookie from just September [who] did not deserve this.”
“His job is to protect the very same people that caused him harm that day so we are wishing him a speedy recovery,” she said. “I hope he gets back to work, and I let him know that we are in pursuit of these individuals, that we will find justice for him, and that we have done that starting with today’s announcement of the indictment.”
Nafees ultimately hopes to return to full duty, Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry told reporters.
A short time before the arraignment, Lucas was cuffed behind his back and had a chain around his ankles as cops walked him out of the 45th Precinct station house, wearing a matching Nike sweatshirt and sweatpants.
He said nothing and looked from side-to-side as a reporter grilled him about the early-morning beatdown on St. Peter’s Ave.
Lucas — who was wearing a wig to conceal his identity when authorities picked him up in Virginia — could spend 15 years to life behind bars in the heinous attack. He is next scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 12.
He has no prior arrests, according to cops.
But Hargrove has more than a dozen previous brushes with the law, sources said last week.
Hargrove – who fled to Virginia with his mom, where he hid out in the garage of a friend’s home – tried to punch a dog that authorities sent in to retrieve him, sources said.
Then the dog attacked him, leaving him with a badly bloodied face, according to the sources.
His dad, Jeffrey Hargrove, 55, was also busted for allegedly using the cop’s stolen credit card at several Bronx bodegas, cops and sources said.