By Jake Romero
NEW YORK, NY — New York Police Dept. Sergeant Phillip Wong pleaded guilty this week to two misdemeanor counts of assaulting and attempting to assault arrested individuals in 2019 and 2020.
Judge Curtis Farber sentenced Wong to anger management counseling, two years of probation and 70 hours of community service on Wednesday, according to news reports.
Wong will not serve jail time despite the prosecution’s request for a 60-day sentence.
During the first incident in 2019, a 48-year-old man was brought in for processing at the West 145th St. precinct.
The man allegedly spit at officers through cell bars and Wong, who was a sergeant with Transit District 3 at the time, punched him in the face.
The victim later received stitches for a laceration above his eye, according to a press release from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Later, in April 2020, Wong kicked and punched a man—who was handcuffed—and knelt on his back, according to court documents and statements.
Court documents also revealed that, after the detained man yelled that he could not breathe with the sergeant kneeling on his back, Wong responded, “I don’t give a f*** if you can breathe or not” and proceeded to punch him in the side of the face.
George Floyd died just two months later under the knee of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin.
Wong was provoked by the man yelling “obscenities and anti-Asian slurs” at him, officials said.
Anti-Asian sentiments and hate crimes have been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and just this past weekend several Asian women were assaulted in New York City.
Wong is currently still employed by the NYPD, but the department’s evaluation of the matter may result in his firing and loss of pension.
