An off-duty NYPD officer’s finger was bitten while helping detain a suspect accused of assaulting a child .Via Getty Images
May 14, 2025 By Bill Parry
A Glendale man is criminally charged for assaulting a young girl and then biting off a fingertip of an off-duty cop who chased after him in Glendale on Saturday afternoon.
Feliz Enrique, 31, of 68th Street, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Sunday night on charges of assault in the first, second, and third degree, harassment, and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to the charges, between 4:10 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on May 10, at the intersection of 67th Place and Central Avenue, Enrique approached a 9-year-old girl and asked for her name. Immediately after identifying herself, Enrique forcefully struck her in the face with his hand, causing her to fall to the ground. Off-duty NYPD Sergeant Sebastian Hajder was standing nearby and witnessed the assault in progress. He attempted to apprehend Enrique with two bystanders.
A Glendale man slapped a young girl near the intersection of 67th Street and Central Avenue on Saturday afternoon and was chased down by an off-duty cop and two bystanders. During a struggle, the perpetrator bit off the sergeant’s fingertip. Via Google Maps
When they caught up to Enrique, a struggle ensued, and he allegedly bit the sergeant on his knee, hand, and finger. The defendant bit off the top portion of Hajder’s right index finger, according to the charges.
Police from the 104th Precinct in Ridgewood took Enrique into custody. According to the criminal complaint, during questioning, Enrique told an officer, “This isn’t the first time it’s happened. I beat up her father. I asked where’s {redacted]. I knocked her out. Yeah, I punched her.”
As for biting off Sergeant Hajder’s fingertip, Enrique told the officer, “I know the finger went in my mouth and his finger came out of my mouth.”
EMS transported the girl to the Cohen Children’s Medical Center, where she was listed in stable condition with bruising to her arms and back and bleeding to her lip and arm, loose teeth, and substantial pain.
Sergeant Hadjer, who is assigned to the 79th Precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, was transported to an area hospital where he was listed in stable condition. He was treated for bite marks to his hand and leg, and abrasions to his arm and leg. Due to Enrique’s actions, doctors were unable to reattach the sergeant’s fingertip.
“This attack on a vulnerable and unsuspecting child was unprovoked and cruel,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “A nearby off-duty police sergeant was alerted to the defendant’s alleged actions and began to chase the man. As defendant Feliz Enrique was detained by the sergeant and two other bystanders, he bit the sergeant’s hand and severed the top portion of his index finger. The sergeant put himself out there, even though he was not on duty, to apprehend this defendant.”
Queens Criminal Court Judge Edward Daniels set bail at $500,000 cash, $1 million bond, and $1 million partially secured bond and ordered Enrique to return to court on May 15. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
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