POLICE INVESTIGATE IN the early hours of Tuesday, March 17, 2026, a shooting that took place on Monday, March 16, 2026 outside 167 West 231st Street by Albany Crescent in the Kingsbridge section of The Bronx. Video by Síle Moloney

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark announced Thursday, June 11, that an NYPD officer who had been suspended without pay after allegedly, while off-duty, shooting a man in the head, has been indicted for attempted murder, assault, kidnapping and other charges in connection to the incident. The shooting which, according to the DA’s office, stemmed from the officer’s search for his stolen car, took place in the Kingsbridge section of The Bronx in March, as reported by Norwood News at the time.

 

“Police officers are sworn to serve and protect the public, and even when they are off duty, they are expected to conduct themselves with integrity,” Clark said. “Conducting an unauthorized, personal investigation into the theft of his car two days earlier, the defendant held a man at gunpoint, then fired his pistol into a vehicle and wounded a passenger in the head, causing a life-altering injury.”

 

Clark said the defendant, Jonathan Baez, 44, a police officer for 12 years, was arraigned June 11 before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Laurence Busching on two counts of attempted murder in the second degree, first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree criminal use of a firearm, two counts of second-degree criminal use of a firearm, attempted assault in the first-degree, one count of first-degree unlawful imprisonment, nine counts  of computer trespass, and official misconduct.

The district attorney said bail was set at $100,000 cash/$250,000 insurance company bond/$250,000 partially secured bond. She said Baez is due back in court in October.

 

According to the investigation, and as Norwood News reported at the time. at around 9 p.m. on March 16, NYPD Officer Jonathan Baez, who was off duty from his assignment to the Gracie Mansion security detail, allegedly approached a man in front of 167 West 231st Street in Kingsbridge, near Bronx Public House bar. Baez allegedly pointed his off-duty firearm at the man, ordered him to the ground and straddled him while pointing his gun at the man’s back.

 

The court heard that moments later, Baez allegedly fired two shots into a white Hyundai Genesis parked nearby. One bullet struck a 30-year-old man in the head. Prosecutors said the victim remains in the hospital and is on a ventilator.

Prosecutors said that on March 14, a 2024 Honda CRV belonging to Baez had been stolen from his apartment building in Riverdale. They said a white Hyundai Genesis was observed in surveillance video as being involved in the theft.

 

They went on to say that between March 15, and March 16, Baez allegedly conducted over 200 unauthorized searches of NYPD databases, including, but not limited to, the Domain Awareness System (DAS), the License Plate Reader (LPR) and the Intergraph Computer Aided Dispatch System (ICAD) seemingly in an effort to locate both his vehicle and the white Hyundai. According to the Bronx DA’s office, to date, Baez’s stolen vehicle has not been recovered.

 

In the early hours of March 17, as reported, an NYPD spokesperson verbally gave a general overview of the incident to Norwood News, adding that the victim was in critical condition, that there were no arrests, and that there was an ongoing investigation.

In a follow-up inquiry on March 18, police told Norwood News that on March 16, at around 9.12 p.m. officers responded to a 911 call regarding a man who had been shot in front of 167 West 231st Street. “Upon arrival, officers were informed that a 30-year-old male sustained a gunshot wound to the head and traveled by private means to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in critical condition,” a police spokesperson said.

 

“This incident involved an off-duty UMOS (uniformed member of service),” the spokesperson continued. “This was related to a previously reported stolen vehicle. The off-duty UMOS had an interaction with several males and the off-duty UMOS discharged a firearm. The incident is under investigation by Force Investigation Division. The UMOS duty status is suspended without pay.”

 

Norwood News reached out to the NYPD with more questions on the incident at the time but did not receive an immediate response.

The address of the shooting is a multistory residential building. However, police cones marking the shell casings recovered following the shooting were seen in front of 169 West 231st Street and Albany Crescent, which is the location of a driving school.

 

Police had cordoned off a section of West 231st Street between Bailey Avenue and Albany Crescent while they carried out their investigation which included examining the windows of the Bronx Public House, located at 170 West 231st Street, opposite where the shell casings were located.

 

One of the windows of the bar was seen cracked by a bullet hole but remained intact. The following day, one of the bar employees confirmed a bullet had indeed been shot through the window while the bar was in operation. She said in the meantime, the glass had shattered completely and had fallen out of the frame. The window pane was seen replaced the same day and the bar was open for business as usual.

The Temple of Enlightenment is located about 100 feet from the scene of the shooting close to the Bronx Public House, which is located on the corner of West 231st Street and Albany Crescent.

 

In the early hours of Tuesday, March 17, a driver in a passing car asked what had happened. When Norwood News told him of the shooting and asked if he wanted to comment, he said it was a scary thing but did not wish to comment further.

A group of men walking up West 231st Street from Broadway towards the crime scene and, separately, a local business owner of one of the few businesses which were still open in the early hours of March 17 as the investigation continued, also declined to comment.

 

Norwood News asked a young man leaving a laundromat on West 231st Street between Broadway and Albany Crescent near the UPS store if he had seen what had happened and he said he had not. When told of the shooting, he said it was “crazy.”

 

Asked if he felt unsafe in the area generally, he said, “It’s The Bronx, and we live in a kind of impoverished area so I don’t want to say it comes as a complete surprise.” Asked if there was ever any trouble around the Bronx Public House, he said he didn’t believe so.

Later on March 17, as a major fire broke out at nearby 3410 Kingsbridge Avenue, Norwood News spoke to other business owners in the area and many said they had already closed before the March 16 shooting occurred, adding that they didn’t know what happened. One business owner surmised it was likely not a robbery gone wrong, but something personal between people. He added that the area was generally safe and that there wasn’t much trouble.

 

In 2011, Norwood News had reported on an ex-cop who had been found guilty for beating a suspect named Jonathan Baez. Norwood News asked the District Attorney’s office if the victim in that case was the same Baez who allegedly shot the 30-year-old male victim in Kingsbridge on March 16 this year. “WE have no information to indicate the Baez in the 2011 article is the same as the officer who was indicted last week,” a spokesperson said.

 

According to an NYPD online database, there are two police officers named Jonathan Baez (as well as one sergeant), currently working for the NYPD, but only one officer has served for 12 years. The other officer has served less years. The listed status / command for the officer who has served for 12 years, as mentioned by the Bronx DA above, is “Military and Extended Leave Desk.”

 

Norwood News contacted Baez’s legal representation regarding the March 16 shooting to request a comment. We did not receive an immediate response but will share any further feedback should we receive some.

 

The March 16 shooting took place just over a month after 16-year-old athlete and student, Christopher Redding, was fatally shot at West 238th Street and Broadway, also in Kingsbridge, on Feb. 11, as reported, shocking the community.

Two other teenagers were also shot during the same incident involving Christopher but survived. Three teens have been arrested in connection with the incident and have been charged, while one person is still sought. Christopher’s mother has called on the culprits to turn themselves in. Police said the shooting was being investigated in the context of a possible “gang nexus.”

 

Around the same time, New York Attorney General Letitia James had recently announced the conviction of NYPD Sgt. Erik Duran for the manslaughter of Eric Duprey, 30, during a police sting operation in the Fordham Manor section of The Bronx in August 2023. In April, James announced that Duran was to be sentenced to 3-9 years for the killing, which Duran’s defense team planned to appeal.

 

Major crime in the 50th Precinct, 52nd Precinct and 46th Precincts in the Northwest Bronx remain high in several major categories as of end of May, despite an overall drop in crime across the borough, and a significant year-to-date decline in index crime in Bronx Patrol Borough South in May.

 

As reported, Norwood News asked Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch during a press conference held Monday, June 15, if she had any comments in that regard. Read her response here.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on X @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.