Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that an NYPD Detective has been indicted for Assault and Official Misconduct for allegedly punching a suspect and slamming his head into the ground as the suspect was being handcuffed by police.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant allegedly used excessive force after the suspect was handcuffed and on the ground. The incident was captured on video by a surveillance camera.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Jorge Mergeche, 39, who is assigned to Bronx Homicide, was arraigned today on an indictment charging second-degree Assault, third-degree Assault and Official Misconduct before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Guy Mitchell. He is due back in court on July 11, 2023.
According to the investigation, on April 2, 2022, at approximately 1:35 P.M., NYPD Police Officers from the 43rd Precinct were pursuing a vehicle. Detective Mergeche and another detective were in the vicinity on an unrelated matter and joined the pursuit. The driver of the vehicle, Rafael Saavedra, ultimately crashed into a truck on College Avenue, exited the vehicle with his hands in the air and was taken to the ground by a police officer. During and after the handcuffing of Saavedra, the defendant allegedly slammed Saavedra’s head into the pavement multiple times and punched him in the head and face multiple times, and then kicked Saavedra in the back of the head using a knee. Saavedra suffered swelling and abrasions to his face and broken teeth, and received medical treatment at a local hospital.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
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