13th Precinct Deputy Inspector Steven Hellman, Executive Officer Ernesto Castro, Cop of the Month Officer Carilina Lugo and 13th Precinct Community Council President Frank Scala (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel)
By Maria Rocha-Buschel
Police officer Carilina Lugo was named Cop of the Month at the 13th precinct’s latest community council meeting on Tuesday, May 15 for catching a man who allegedly attacked a woman in an unprovoked assault.
“I don’t have one every month but it’s for those cops who go that little extra step,” Deputy Inspector Steven Hellman said of the award.
Hellman said that in the assault, the victim was walking down West 25th Street at the beginning of the month while drinking her coffee when 29-year-old Tyrel Henderson approached her and “knocked her out cold.”
Police said that Henderson was also charged in connection with an incident on May 2 in which he allegedly slashed a woman in East Harlem near the Apollo Theater, requiring her to get stitches. Henderson was arrested because Lugo reportedly recognized him in surveillance video from outside the theater and connected the two incidents.
Hellman noted that Henderson is a resident of the Bowery Resident’s Committee shelter on West 25th Street and that BRC CEO Muzzy Rosenblatt was helpful throughout the incident.