A Lower East Side firefighter was arrested Friday after he mugged an off-duty cop and tried to steal his gun.
The brawl began when fireman Angel Valerio left a Queens T.G.I. Friday's with three of his friends and encountered his nemesis — soon-to-be victim — cop. Words were exchanged, but things escalated quickly when one of Valerio's friends punched the cop in the face.
The cop apparently identified himself as such and tried to walk away, but Valerio and his friends, who had boozed it up at Friday's, because, Friday's, followed him down the street, hit him, and tried to steal the cop's backpack and gun.
The cop managed to run away and was hospitalized with bruises and scratches, while Valerio was tracked down — BY THE VERY AGENCY HE TRIED TO DEFEAT — and arrested for attempted robbery, assault, and attempted criminal possession of a weapon. He faces up to seven years in prison. The cop, meanwhile, faces an eternity of being made fun of for getting beat up by a fireman.
[NYDN, photo via Shutterstock]