Ex-con who once tried to kill NYPD cop is freed without bail after another alleged attack on officer
An ex-con who once tried to kill a Queens cop was arrested this week for randomly attacking another NYPD officer — only to be freed without bail, authorities and police sources said Monday.
Accused repeat cop-attacker Isus Thompson, 38, could have been forced to cough up bail before being released from custody after his latest alleged assault on an officer.
But a judge instead cut him loose after Bronx prosecutors failed to seek bail in the case — prompting an angry response from NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea in a tweet Monday.
“Do we have to wait for [Thompson] to kill someone before this is taken seriously?” the disgusted top cop seethed.
The Bronx District Attorney’s Office did not respond to The Post when asked why its prosecutors sought only supervised release, a condition that means the suspect is just required to periodically check in with the court.
On Sunday, Thompson had approached a cop on East 194th Street near Valentine Avenue in Fordham Manor in The Bronx around 1:30 a.m., authorities said.
He randomly struck Officer Kyo Sun Lee, 30, in the head with a black backpack holding a DVD player, adult videos and a small metal safe, according to a criminal complaint and police sources. The officer’s partner also found Thompson in possession of a black metal box-cutter, according to sources.
Lee, who reported pain and redness to the right side of his face and back of his head, was taken to North Central Bronx Hospital for evaluation, sources said.
The officer recalled the “totally unexpected” attack in a brief interview with The Post outside his home Monday night.
“I saw him approach and we didn’t make direct eye contact. He saw me and I saw him. It seemed like he was very determined, his focus was straight ahead,” recounted Lee.
“He seemed like he was going to walk across the street … I was looking at him from an angle and turned to see my partner’s back. As I turned on an angle, that’s when he came about here,” he said, pointing to his neck.
“Thankfully there were enough officers there to get him into custody,” Lee said.
Thompson was hit with three separate assault charges, including at least one felony, giving the judge the discretion to set bail. The suspect also was charged with weapon possession, harassment and resisting arrest, his complaint shows.
He flailed his arms, kicked his legs and twisted his body, refusing to be handcuffed, during his arrest, according to the complaint.
Thompson had previously served two years of a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree attempted murder for stabbing a cop in Forest Hills in 2008.
The suspect had been smoking marijuana in the Ehrenreich-Austin Playground at Austin Street and 76th Avenue in Forest Hills around 10:30 p.m. June 6 of that year when the 30-year-old cop approached him, according to a criminal complaint.
The officer told Thompson that he couldn’t be in the park after sunset and asked him to show his identification, the complaint said.
The cop then walked with Thompson to his police cruiser, where the officer asked him to put his hands on the car, according to the complaint.
Thompson pulled out a knife and stabbed the cop in the right side of his stomach, ripping his shirt and striking but not piercing his bulletproof vest, prosecutors said.
Thompson then ran off, sparking a chase that spanned more than three blocks, according to prosecutors.
When cops nabbed Thompson, they found the knife in one of his shorts pockets and “a quantity of marijuana” inside a Ziploc bag in the other, according to the complaint.
Thompson was sentenced and imprisoned in 2010 and released in 2012 on parole, which expired in 2015, corrections records show.
In his tweet Monday, Shea lamented that Thompson was back on the street after his latest alleged attack on a cop.
“Arrested in ‘08 for the attempted murder of a police officer, the same man was again arrested Sun. for attacking a #Bronx cop from behind. Late last night, this violent criminal was released without bail,” the top cop wrote.
Lee, when asked how he feels about Thompson’s release, said: “I’m not sure how I should feel about it. I was just performing my duty as any officer would.”
The DA’s office and state court officials confirmed that Bronx Criminal Court Judge Audrey Stone signed off on the prosecutors’ request for only supervised release in Thompson’s latest bust. Thompson’s lawyer had sought no conditions for his client’s release.
“Judge Stone, taking into consideration that there was a level of inappropriate behavior involving law enforcement, set the higher of the two argued bail requests,” said Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, in an e-mail to The Post on Monday.
But that’s not good enough, retorted the city’s largest police union.
“This case is more proof that our broken criminal justice system needs a complete overhaul,” said Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch in a statement.
“Our legislators, prosecutors and judges all need to stop pointing fingers and passing the buck, because they’re putting both cops and our communities at risk.”
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