Police have identified a person of interest in the case of an off-duty New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer being beaten and held at knifepoint early Saturday.
The individual is identified as 23-year-old Taveon Hargrove who was allegedly involved in the violent encounter, the New York Post reported on Sunday.
Images show Hargrove and the injured officer:
Police ID thug accused of bashing off-duty cop, stealing his gun — and bust his dad for using the officer’s credit card https://t.co/qOtWPqFzxt pic.twitter.com/yFGrna4EBV
— New York Post (@nypost) May 25, 2025
The incident happened just after 4:00 a.m. outside 1473 St. Peter’s Avenue in the Bronx when two people whom police said were “armed and extremely dangerous” allegedly targeted the officer. The second person involved has not yet been identified.
Sources told the Post that law enforcement later caught Hargrove’s father who is accused of using the officer’s credit card at bodegas in the area.
Police said the pair forced the officer to the ground, hit him in the face, held a knife to his throat, and robbed him of his belongings which included his Glock 19 9mm handgun.
WANTED FOR ROBBERY: On 5/24/25, at approximately 4:09 AM, near 1473 St. Peters Ave in the Bronx, two individuals forced a 27-year-old man to the ground, struck him in the face, and caused multiple fractures. They then held a knife to his throat and forcibly removed his property. pic.twitter.com/EZbhpTYdAe
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) May 25, 2025
Following the violent incident, sources said the officer was awake and talking. He will reportedly undergo surgery for a broken cheekbone and fractured eye socket.
Police sources told NBC New York the officer was kicked so hard in his head, the assailant left a shoe print on his face. The outlet also noted the officer was wearing his uniform at the time but he was off-duty.
In a social media post following the incident, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said:
In just the past month, we’ve seen some heinous attacks on police officers in NYC, including: one with part of his finger bitten off; another with part of his ear bitten off; and this latest vicious assault resulting in severe fractures to an officer’s face, among too many others. Attack one of our own and you will get the full force of the greatest police department in the world coming for you, just like Taveon Hargrove does now.
In June 2023, Breitbart News reported that NYPD officers had apparently endured 32 percent more injuries by that time than in 2022.
In addition, Commissioner Tisch said in January there had been a 146.5 percent rise in felony assault arrests for repeat offenders in the past six years.
