AMNY
By Sadie Brown
A Bronx man was arrested and charged in Morris Heights after attacking two city Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) sent to aid the man late Thursday evening, police said.
The first responders were answering a 911 call inside 1889 Sedgwick Ave. around 10 p.m. for a 22-year-old male in need of medical assistance when things turned violent.
The man, Jose Bencosme, who lives inside the building, began punching EMTs who were attempting to render aid, leaving one 32-year-old first responder with a deep head laceration and the other 20-year-old with injuries to the face, according to police.
Sedgwick Avenue filled with emergency response vehicles after the injured responders put out a distress call. User-generated video on the Citizen App showed around a dozen ambulances lining the street.
The two men who were attacked were transported to area hospitals and treated for their injuries.
FDNY said that violence against its first responders was becoming too frequent and called for more support and better working conditions for emergency medical workers.
“EMS are frontline first responders who routinely put themselves in harms way to save lives and keep New Yorkers safe, just like police officers and firefighters,” FDNY said in a statement. “Yet from pay parity, to safe and fair working conditions, to overall support for the street doctors who answer the call when New Yorkers are sick or injured, more can be done to help these emergency medical professionals. The City of New York must do right by the heroic EMS members who rush in to keep this city safe and healthy. It is important that they secure that much deserved and long overdue recognition.”
Police charged Bencosme with two counts of assault for the attacks.
AmNewYork confirmed a separate first responder was injured on-site in an accident unrelated to the attack.