A Brooklyn judge dismissed the assault charges against Councilmember Susan Zhuang, the South Brooklyn Democrat who bit a police officer in a scuffle in her district against a forthcoming homeless shelter last summer.
In a Brooklyn courtroom Tuesday morning, Assistant District Attorney David Ingle said Zhuang and Deputy Chief Frank Digiacomo had taken part in a restorative justice session on March 26.
Ingle said Zhuang understood, “the harm she caused” and the two agreed “that they can move forward in a way that takes into consideration their ongoing professional interactions as they both serve their communities.”
Reading from a joint statement signed by Zhuang and Digiacomo, he went on to add the two parties had both shared how they were impacted by the July 17 incident and said they were both “ready to move forward.”
Steven Brown, an attorney for Zhuang, said the councilmember was grateful to have participated in the restorative justice program.
“My client serves the community in a distinguished manner and now she can continue to do that,” he said.
Zhuang and her attorney left the courtroom after the proceeding which lasted less than 10 minutes, declining a reporters request for additional comment.
Zhuang, a key ally of Brooklyn Democratic Party boss and Assemblyperson Rodneyse Bichote Hermelyn, is a right-leaning Democrat who ran for her council seat in 2023 with the backing of the city’s largest police union.
Judge Masateru Marubashi agreed to dismiss and seal the case against Zhuang saying the two parties were “able to reach a mutually agreeable conclusion.”
The conclusion to Zhuang’s legal woe comes nearly a year after her July 17 arrest last summer after which she was charged with second degree assault, resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration during a protest against a homeless shelter. City officials maintain Zhuang’s district doesn’t have a single homeless shelter and they were building what would be the first.
Zhuang is a professed ally of police and a member of the Council’s Common Sense Caucus made up of 7 of the bodies only Republicans and several right-leaning Democrats.
The attack stumped top brass at the time, even as they circulated a photo of the bite mark bloody circulated by police at the time.
“Councilwoman Zhuang has been a great partner with the NYPD for a long time,” Chief of Department John Chell said shortly after the incident. “But the actions today, by assaulting one of our police officers, a deputy chief, by biting him viciously in the arm, I can’t explain it right now.”
Zhuang was received by many members of her district as a hero, some of whom contributed to her legal defense, championing her activism against the forthcoming shelter. She was also received in a personal meeting by Mayor Eric Adams who called the incident “unfortunate.” Adams also recently had the federal charges against him dismissed.
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