Muhammad Chowdhury, a veteran NYPD officer, is fighting for his life, after he was violently attacked yesterday (Aug. 23) during his morning jog in the Bronx. Chowdhury, 48, was repeatedly struck in the head before his attackers stole his cellphone, car keys and wallet, news reports said.
“He was discovered lying on the sidewalk bleeding from his ear on Olmstead Avenue, between Lafayette and Turnbull Avenues,” The New York Post reported. He was taken to Jacobi hospital and diagnosed with a fractured skull and bleeding from the brain.
Chowdhury has been taken off the respirator and can talk, his nephew Jamil Ahmed told the New York Daily News. “He got his senses and he is doing well,” Ahmed said. “He is responding to his wife.”
He described his uncle as “very kind” and “generous,” and someone who had motivated and encouraged “more than 15 people to join the NYPD. “He is like an idol to everybody. He’s been helping everybody. He is a good person,” Ahmed continued. “He wants to do a good job for people.”
News reports, citing police, noted that the group that attacked him is suspected to be a part of the three-man crew that allegedly robbed five other people that night and a total of 19 this month.
On numerous occasions, 3 individuals approach a victim, while a 4th remains in the vehicle, and forcibly remove property from the victim. The most commonly used vehicle in this pattern is a black Honda Sedan. DM @NYPDTips or call 800-577-TIPS with any info. pic.twitter.com/J45Pfg0vNQ
Speaking to The New York Post, Chowdhury’s wife, Nadira Sherin, said that staff and police failed to recognize him at the hospital and only discovered who he was when he didn’t turn up to his shift. She told the paper that authorities need to capture his attackers — and lock them up. “You cannot let these men out the same day that they are arrested,” she said. “If they release them the same day, that is not justice for my husband.”
Additionally, she told The Post that when Mayor Eric Adams and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark visited her husband in the hospital, she demanded they “take this seriously.” She said she told them that Chowdhury “made the city his priority and he did 18 years of service for this city,” and that “he deserves to be given justice. He does not deserve to be attacked like this.”
Giving an update on her husband’s health, she told The Post that he would be monitored for the next two to three days before doctors will determine if he needs surgery or if he can return home.
