A man arrested for injuring a cop responding to a giant snowball fight in Washington Square Park accepted a plea deal in exchange for reduced charges just weeks after he was arrested for attempted robbery, officials said Friday.
Gusmane Coulibaly, 27, pleaded guilty to harassment and agreed to perform 20 hours of community service for the NYC Parks Department in exchange for prosecutors dropping the top charge of obstruction, a spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry blasted Bragg — and Mayor Mamdani, as well — for offering the deal, calling it “weak justice.”
“By downplaying this attack on police officers, the mayor and DA gave this individual a free pass to keep causing chaos on our streets — and that’s exactly what he has done,” Hendry said. “This is yet another consequence of having a DA who is more focused on punishing cops for doing our job than protecting the people of Manhattan.”
Coulibaly was allegedly recorded on video hitting a cop in the face with a snowball during the incident near the park’s public restrooms building on Feb. 23.
Cops arrested Coulibaly three days later, charging him with assault on a police officer, obstructing government administration and disorderly conduct. But the DA’s Office ultimately chose to charge him with harassment and obstruction of government administration — both misdemeanor offenses.
Barry Williams/ New York Daily News
People gather in Washington Square Park for a mass snowball fight on Feb. 23. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
“We’re grateful that there were some charges, but we need to ask the question, because the video is clear, clear as day, actually, that this individual threw a snowball packed with ice, blasted a police officer in the face,” Hendry said in February. “Why do they feel that that didn’t cause an injury to our police officer, which he clearly, clearly has an injury below his eye, the same eye that they talked about? Why is this being downplayed right now?”
While his snowball case was still pending, Coulibaly was arrested for attempted robbery of a sidewalk vendor in Manhattan on Oct. 8.
According to a criminal complaint, Coulibaly, along with two other men, approached the victim on E. 116th St. near Second Ave. in East Harlem around 4:40 p.m. and threatened to flip over his table.
Coulibaly then lifted up his shirt to reveal a pistol tucked into his waistband, before fleeing after hearing police sirens, the complaint shows.
He was arrested later that day, but was released on non-monetary conditions after he pleaded not guilty to attempted robbery for the incident, records show.