{"id":263934,"date":"2026-06-12T00:17:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T00:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/263934\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T00:17:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T00:17:19","slug":"vigilante-nypd-cop-arrested-for-attempted-murder-for-bronx-shooting-over-stolen-suv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/263934\/","title":{"rendered":"Vigilante NYPD cop arrested for attempted murder for Bronx shooting over stolen SUV"},"content":{"rendered":"

A vigilante NYPD cop who took the law into his own hands and tried to catch the crooks who stole his SUV nearly killed a man who wasn\u2019t even involved in the original crime when he shot him in the head<\/a>, prosecutors said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Officer Jonathan Baez turned himself in to face attempted murder charges Thursday, three months after shooting a passenger in a luxury car he tracked down who he suspected was involved in the theft of his SUV, officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe person who was shot in the head, we have conclusive proof was actually not involved in the theft of the officer\u2019s car \u2014 and he\u2019s the one who\u2019s lying on a ventilator right now,\u201d Assistant Bronx District Attorney Jon Veiga said during the officer\u2019s arraignment in Bronx Supreme Criminal Court Thursday.<\/p>\n

According to Veiga, Baez\u2019s 2024 Honda CR-V was stolen from outside his home. Video reviewed by Baez showed a Hyundai Genesis pulling up next to his SUV before it was stolen.<\/p>\n

Baez, 44, conducted over 215 unauthorized personal searches of NYPD databases to track down his vehicle and the Genesis, prosecutors say.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went from a crime victim on Saturday night, March 14, 6 p.m., to a vigilante, exercising over 200 searches of powerful NYPD databases,\u201d Veiga said.<\/p>\n

Baez\u2019s apparent aim was \u201cto track it down and to shoot the people in the car, without any regard to whether or not the people in the Genesis happen to be the people who stole his car,\u201d Veiga added.<\/p>\n

While off duty on March 16, two days after the SUV was stolen, Baez began trailing the Genesis on the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Major Deegan Expressway until the vehicle exited at E. 230th St., prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know all that because he very helpfully relayed this information in a play by play on a 911 call,\u201d Veiga said.<\/p>\n

When the Genesis driver got out on W. 231st St. near Albany Crescent in Kingsbridge about 9:15 p.m. March 16, Baez put the driver on the ground, straddled him and pressed a gun to his back. He then ordered the Genesis driver to call 911 and say he was being held at gunpoint.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe driver was telling the 911 operators, \u2018I\u2019m being held with a gun and I don\u2019t know why,’\u201d Veiga said. \u201cThe driver was actually expressing a lot of confusion on the 911 call as to why he\u2019s being held.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile a passenger in the rear of the Genesis jumped into the driver\u2019s seat and attempted to drive away, prosecutors say.<\/p>\n

Baez \u201cthen points his gun at the passenger side of the Genesis ordering the occupants not to move or I\u2019ll shoot,\u201d Veiga said. \u201cAs the Genesis begins to pull away, the defendant fires two shots into the Genesis, one through the front passenger window, one through the rear passenger window. It\u2019s that second shot which then enters the rear of the head of the person seated in the front passenger seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

A stray shot shattered a window at The Bronx Public, a restaurant across street, and lodged near the ceiling.<\/p>\n

Respond NYPD officers found Baez still straddling the original Genesis driver on the street with a gun pressed into his back, prosecutors say. Baez gave up his gun to the responding officers, identified himself as a member of the NYPD and acknowledged he\u2019d fired twice, prosecutors say.<\/p>\n

Surveillance video obtained by the Daily News in March shows some of that sequence of that events.<\/p>\n

Baez, assigned to the NYPD\u2019s Intelligence Bureau, was stripped of his gun and shield and put on modified duty<\/a> in the wake of the shooting and later suspended without pay.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors acknowledged there is evidence the original driver of the Genesis who Baez was straddling in the street as well as the passenger who then jumped behind the wheel may have been involved in the SUV theft.<\/p>\n

But not so the 30-year-old front seat passenger shot in the head. He remains on a respirator nearly three months after the shooting.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors say the shooting victim is currently unable to move anything but his eyes and is unaware when his family is in the room with him at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had emergency surgery but the bullet was lodged too deep to fully remove it,\u201d Veiga said. \u201cSo suffice to say he\u2019s in very grave condition today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baez was escorted into the courtroom Thursday with his hands cuffed in front of him. He wore dark glasses, a gray polo shirt, dark jeans and black shoes.<\/p>\n

He was arraigned on a raft of charges including attempted murder, assault, criminal use of a firearm, computer trespass and kidnapping and ordered held on $250,000 bond. His lawyer said Baez will make bail.<\/p>\n

The 12-year NYPD veteran faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.<\/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

Baez was assigned to the Intelligence Bureau\u2019s uniformed operations last February. His duties there included posts at both Gracie Mansion<\/a> and City Hall, officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s very important that people not rush to judgment,\u201d Baez\u2019s lawyer Mark Bederow told reporters after his client\u2019s arraignment. \u201cIt\u2019s just important to have an open mind and respect a presumption of innocence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wounded man\u2019s girlfriend lives in a building just steps away from the crime scene and was on the phone with her boyfriend when he was shot, a neighbor told the Daily News at the time.<\/p>\n

Following the shooting, Mayor Mamdani said he was \u201cincredibly troubled\u201d<\/a> by the actions of the off-duty cop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad that the NYPD is investigating,\u201d Mamdani said at the time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A vigilante NYPD cop who took the law into his own hands and tried to catch the crooks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,102314,102313,9,24,63,103,5269,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-263934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-bronx-district-attorney-jon-veiga","tag-jonathan-baez","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nypd","tag-prosecutors","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263934","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=263934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}