NYPD OFFICER INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER IN OFF-DUTY SHOOTING OF MAN HE SUSPECTED IN THEFT OF HIS CAR

 

NYPD OFFICER INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER IN OFF-DUTY SHOOTING OF MAN HE SUSPECTED IN THEFT OF HIS CAR

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that a New York City Police Department Officer has been indicted for Attempted Murder, Assault, Kidnapping and other charges for allegedly shooting and seriously wounding a man in Kingsbridge during an off-duty incident stemming from the officer’s search for his stolen car. 

District Attorney Clark said, “Police officers are sworn to serve and protect the public, and even when they are off duty, they are expected to conduct themselves with integrity. Conducting an unauthorized, personal investigation into the theft of his car two days earlier, the defendant held a man at gunpoint, then fired his pistol into a vehicle and wounded a passenger in the head, causing a life-altering injury.” 

District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Jonathan Baez, 44, a police officer for 12 years, was arraigned today before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Laurence Busching on two counts of Attempted Murder in the second degree, first-degree Assault, second-degree Kidnapping, two counts of first-degree Criminal Use of a Firearm, two counts of second-degree Criminal Use of a Firearm, Attempted Assault in the first-degree, one count of first-degree Unlawful Imprisonment, nine counts of Computer Trespass, and Official Misconduct. Bail was set at $100,000 cash/$250,000 insurance company bond/$250,000 partially secured bond. Baez is due back in court October 2, 2026.

According to the investigation, at approximately 9 p.m. on March 16, 2026, NYPD Officer Jonathan Baez, who was off duty from his assignment to the Gracie Mansion security detail, approached a man in front of 167 West 231st Street in Kingsbridge. Baez allegedly pointed his off-duty firearm at the man, ordered him to the ground and straddled him while pointing his gun at the man’s back. Moments later Baez fired two shots into a white Hyundai Genesis parked nearby. One bullet struck a 30-year-old man in the head. He remains in the hospital and is on a ventilator.

On March 14, 2026, a 2024 Honda CRV belonging to Officer Baez was stolen from his apartment building in Riverdale. A white Hyundai Genesis was observed in surveillance video as being involved in the theft. Between March 15, 2026, and March 16, 2026, Baez conducted over 200 unauthorized searches of NYPD databases, including but not limited to the Domain Awareness System (DAS), License Plate Reader (LPR) and Intergraph Computer Aided Dispatch System (ICAD) in an effort to locate both his vehicle and the white Hyundai. To date Baez’s stolen vehicle has not been recovered.

District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detective Shawn Nandkisure, from the Force Investigation Division, for his work in the investigation.

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.