{"id":263778,"date":"2026-06-11T21:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T21:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/263778\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T21:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T21:50:14","slug":"nypd-cop-turned-vigilante-charged-after-he-was-caught-on-video-shooting-man-he-thought-may-have-stolen-wifes-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/263778\/","title":{"rendered":"NYPD cop turned ‘vigilante’ charged after he was caught on video shooting man he thought may have stolen wife’s car"},"content":{"rendered":"

A NYPD cop turned \u201cvigilante\u201d was hit with attempted murder and kidnapping charges Thursday for a wild caught-on-video off-duty shooting that left the victim clinging to life on a respirator.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Baez, 44, a 12-year veteran of the department, allegedly chased down the men he believed had stolen<\/a> his car two days earlier on March 16, pinning one man to the ground at gunpoint and shooting another in the head when he tried to get away \u2014 leaving him critically wounded, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is an NYPD officer sworn to protect and serve the public with integrity, courtesy, professionalism and respect. It pains me to say that he is now charged,\u201d Bronx Assistant District Attorney Jon Veiga said at the cop\u2019s arraignment. \u201cHe went from a crime victim, on Saturday night, March 14, to a vigilante.\u201d<\/p>\n

NYPD officer Jonathan Baez allegedly opened fire on a grup of men he believed stole his car in March. Obtained by NY Post<\/p>\n

Baez was furious after his 2024 Honda CRV was stolen from outside his Riverdale apartment building, and allegedly did more than 200 searches on NYPD databases to track down a white Hyundai Genesis spotted next to the stolen vehicle on surveillance footage, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

He found the Hyundai two days later and followed the vehicle on the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Major Deegan, until it exited around West 230th St. in Kingsbridge around 9 p.m., prosecutors said. <\/p>\n

Chilling surveillance footage at the scene shows Baez jumping out of his car with his gun drawn<\/a>, ordered the driver out of the car \u201cand straddled him with the gun pressed against his back,\u201d Veiga said. <\/p>\n

Baez allegedly then \u201cordered that victim to make another 911 call to say that he was being held at gun point,\u201d the prosecutors said. \u201cThe driver made the call, telling the dispatcher, \u2018I\u2019m being held with a gun, and I don\u2019t know why.’\u201d <\/p>\n

NYPD cop Jonathan Baez was indicted on attempted murder and kidnapping charges for the March 16 shooting. Robert Mecea for New York Post<\/p>\n

Veiga said Baez told the man on the ground, \u201cI\u2019m not the police.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when a passenger in the back seat of the Hyundai jumped behind the wheel and started to pull away \u2014 when the off-duty cop allegedly fired two shots, striking the 30-year-old victim in the head as he sat in the passenger\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

Veiga said two of the men \u201cmay have actually been involved in the theft of this car.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, the person who was shot in the head, was absolutely not involved in the theft of the defendant\u2019s car,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s the one who\u2019s lying on a ventilator right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He asked that Baez be held on $250,000 cash bail or a $750,000 bond.<\/p>\n

The cop was indicted on charges of attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, computer trespass and official misconduct, pleading not guilty. <\/p>\n

Bronx prosecutors said two of the men stopped by NYPD cop Jonathan Baez may have been the car thiefs he sought. Robert Mecea for New York Post<\/p>\n

His lawyer, Mark Bederow, said his client has been with the NYPD since 2014, and does not have a record of disciplinary action \u2014 and is aware of how serious the charges are.<\/p>\n

He said Baez is currently suspended with pay.<\/p>\n

In court, Bederow asked Bronx Supreme Court Justice Laurence Busching to release the cop without bail or reasonable bail while he fights the charges, and said he is not a risk to flee. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen this incident occurred in March, it was all over the media, in the New York Post, on television. Officer Baez was named as the person involved, and here is today,\u201d the lawyer said. <\/p>\n

Busching set the amount a $100,000 in cash or a $250,000 bond.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolice officers are sworn to serve and protect the public, and even when they are off duty, they are expected to conduct themselves with integrity,\u201d Bronx DA Darcel Clark said in a statement. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A NYPD cop turned \u201cvigilante\u201d was hit with attempted murder and kidnapping charges Thursday for a wild caught-on-video…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,57,9,24,63,103,3980,129,131,130,58,1688],"class_list":["post-263778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nypd","tag-shootings","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-us-news","tag-viral-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}