NYPD officer accused of punching man 13 times pleads not guilty to assault charge

A New York City police officer accused of punching someone 13 times pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday morning.

Christian Zapata, 36, faces one count of third-degree assault. He entered the courtroom in handcuffs, dressed in a dark suit with a close-cropped beard and his hair combed back. After an officer removed the cuffs, the officer leaned forward, tapping his fingers on the table and stroking his beard.

Zapata only said a few words during the brief arraignment. Justice Michele Rodney released him without bail while he awaits trial.

“We will continue to impartially investigate instances where members of law enforcement use unnecessary force, because doing so is essential for enhancing public safety and confidence in the criminal justice system,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.

Zapata is the latest in a series of NYPD members to face criminal charges since Bragg took office last year — including the inspector who led former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s security detail, an officer who pleaded guilty to beating a man inside a holding cell and an officer who was indicted on charges that he hit a man while trying to remove him from an Apple store. Prosecutors have requested a 60-day jail sentence, but Zapata could face up to a year behind bars if convicted.

Zapata’s attorney, Andrew Quinn, declined to speak after the arraignment and the police officer’s union did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The NYPD said he has been suspended without pay.

Prosecutors say Zapata and several other members of the NYPD were responding to a call about a child in emotional distress in December 2022 when a man inside the apartment asked the officers to put on face masks. The officers refused to wear them, according to the DA’s office, even after the man called 911 and asked a supervisor to intervene.

When the same man tried to check on the child, prosecutors say, Zapata told the man to give him space and said he would be arrested for interfering with EMS. Another officer started to walk the man down the hall, and the man swatted his hand away. That officer grabbed the man by his wrists and restrained him.

While the man was restrained, according to prosecutors, Zapata punched him repeatedly. Body camera footage shows the man with his hands up and his back against a wall as the officer hits him again and again — more than a dozen times in all.

Two other officers pulled Zapata away, the DA’s office says, and the NYPD temporarily suspended him. The man Zapata is accused of hitting was initially arrested, but the charges against him were dropped, according to court records.

In police paperwork, Zapata said he used the least amount of force necessary after the man became aggressive, resisted arrest and pushed another officer, according to court records. He also said that he hit the man on the head with a closed fist. Zapata told a lieutenant that he broke his finger, court papers show.

“I was protecting my guys,” he allegedly said. “He was going at one of my guys.”

The man Zapata is accused of hitting has sued the NYPD, Zapata and the other officers who responded to the apartment that day, alleging that they arrested him without legal justification and used excessive force. That case is still pending in civil court.

Zapata joined the NYPD in 2011 and was promoted to sergeant in August 2022, just a few months before the incident, according to department records. His NYPD officer profile page shows that he was demoted back to the rank of officer this past August and was assigned to the Viper unit, which monitors public housing surveillance footage.

According to court records, he sent a letter to the police commissioner in March, in which he said that he never loses his composure and that the primary goal of policing is de-escalation. He said he represents the NYPD “with the utmost courtesy, professionalism and respect.”

“I will never standby [sic] and watch a fellow officer get hurt and I stand on that principle,” he wrote, according to excerpts quoted in court records.

Zapata said he was aware of the dangers of responding to calls inside of people’s homes and that he believed his actions were “necessary and justified” to control the situation. He said it would be a “tragedy” for him to be stripped of the rank he had worked hard to attain.

“I want to continue representing this department with honor,” he wrote, “and I want to one day be sitting in your position as a police commissioner, leading the best police department in the country.”