NYPD officer gets 12 stitches after being injured during Staten Island arrest

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — An NYPD officer suffered a head wound requiring 12 stitches during the arrest of a 26-year-old man accused of stealing from a car in Arden Heights.

Officers confiscated stolen sunglasses, a knife and drugs from Ronald Strachan of Woodrow Road in Annadale in the incident that occurred on May 9 around 4 a.m., according to the criminal complaint and police.

The criminal complaint alleges that Strachan was wearing all-black clothing when he was trying to open the doors of cars parked in the 300 block of Arden Avenue near Woodrow Road.

Responding officers saw Strachan sitting inside a 2014 Mercedes-Benz that he did not own at that location. Officers were trying to arrest Strachan when he allegedly ran away despite multiple orders to stop, according to the criminal complaint.

The defendant allegedly resisted arrest by refusing to place his hands behind his back, tensing his body and flailing his arms.

According to the criminal complaint, an officer was trying to handcuff Strachan when that officer hit his head against a second officer’s duty belt. The injured officer suffered a head laceration, bleeding and pain that required medical attention at a hospital.

Officers confiscated a switchblade knife from Strachan’s jacket pocket.

The owner of the Mercedes-Benz reported that his black Oakley sunglasses were missing from the glovebox.

The criminal complaint alleges that police checked the contents of Strachan’s backpack inside the 123rd Precinct stationhouse in Tottenville. Officers recovered the Oakley sunglasses, four circular blue pills of the painkiller oxycodone stamped A5, two partial tablets of oxycodone and a straw tainted with residue of that drug.

Strachan has been charged with assault, petit larceny, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, unauthorized use of a vehicle, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

The defendant has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is due back in state Criminal Court in St. George on June 29. His bail has been set at $15,000 bond/$5,000 cash, according to public records.

An attorney for the defendant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.