Defendant Head-Butted CO, Causing Him To Fall Off Bus
And Suffer Multiple Fractures to Arm, Cut Over Eye
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Manhattan man has been
indicted for assaulting a New York City Department of Correction officer on a bus transporting
him to a jail on Rikers Island, causing debilitating injuries.
District Attorney Clark said, “This defendant allegedly head-butted the officer when they
were on a bus, causing the officer to fall down the stairs and onto the ground. The officer
suffered a cut over his eye requiring sutures, and multiple fractures to his arm. He is still
receiving treatment for his eye. The defendant was released from Rikers after serving time for a
misdemeanor; now he could face years in prison if convicted for his brutal act.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Yacoub Bamba, 18, of 492 First Avenue,
Manhattan, was indicted for Aggravated Assault of a Police or Peace Officer, first-degree
Assault, second-degree Assault, two counts of third-degree Assault, Obstructing Governmental
Administration and Harassment. He was arraigned today before Bronx Supreme Court Justice
George Villegas and bail was set at $15,000. He is due back in court on October 26, 2017. If
convicted of the top charge, he faces five to 25 years in prison.
According to the investigation, on June 9, 2017, the correction officer was transporting
inmates back to their housing areas on Rikers Island. The defendant, who was housed in the
George Motchan Detention Center, demanded to be let off the bus before it reached his facility
and when the officer refused, Bamba pushed the officer and head-butted him. The officer fell
down the stairs of the bus and suffered the injuries. He was able to call out to his partner, who
saw him bleeding on the ground.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
