By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
• A Manhattan District Attorney’s office reduced charges against a man accused of injuring NYPD officers with snowballs in Washington Square Park.
• The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Gusmane Coulibaly, was arraigned Thursday on misdemeanor harassment and obstruction charges after prosecutors declined to pursue the felony assault count.
• Officers were struck with snowballs during an incident responding to a large crowd in the park earlier in the week; injuries were reported but prosecutors said direct causation could not be proven.
• A judge granted supervised release at Coulibaly’s arraignment, and three other suspects from the incident remain at large.
NEW YORK, NY — Prosecutors in Manhattan declined to pursue a felony assault charge against a man accused of injuring New York Police Department officers with snowballs during a disturbance in Washington Square Park earlier this week, court records show.
Theodore Parisienne/TNS
The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Gusmane Coulibaly of the Bronx, was arraigned Thursday in Manhattan Criminal Court on misdemeanor counts of harassment and obstruction of governmental administration.
Prosecutors told the court they could not establish that injuries sustained by an officer were caused directly by Coulibaly’s conduct during the incident, and chose not to pursue a felony assault charge.
The judge granted Coulibaly supervised release after the brief arraignment, and he is scheduled to return to court on related matters.
NYPD officials said officers were struck by snowballs and treated for injuries during the earlier confrontation; police continue to seek three additional suspects connected to the episode.