Judge Won't Accept Plea Deal in Conductor Assault
DECEMBER 17 -- A Bronx judge rejected a plea deal Thursday that would have let a police officer who beat up an on-duty female transit worker get off scot-free. Prosecutors recently offered Mirjan Lolja a deal requiring that he only attend anger management classes and stay away from his victim for two years. He was expected to plead guilty to aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor, but Justice Carol Sharpe rejected the proposed deal. Sharpe set a trial date of Feb. 8.
"We applaud Bronx Supreme Court Justice Sharpe for rejecting an extremely lenient and inappropriate plea offer," TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen said. "This was an outrageous, unprovoked and violent attack on a transit worker who was simply doing her job. Riders have to know that abusing public servants will not be tolerated and will bring about serious consequences." Watch President Samuelsen's interview on NY1 on this case here.
Sharpe didn’t explain her decision but court system spokesman David Bookstaver said, “I believe the decision speaks for itself.” Lolja was charged with misdemeanor assault, harassment and official misconduct for jumping on the conductor’s back, knocking her to the concrete platform and forcefully yanking her hair. He then fled the scene like a common criminal. Lolja was heading home from a nightclub at about 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 23, 2014, when the incident occurred at the E. Tremont/Grand Concourse subway station. He apparently was angered and frustrated by a late-night service change and related delays. The conductor was stationed on the platform to assist riders with directions when she was subjected to his abuse. Another conductor on the platform witnessed the attack and came to her aid.
Hoping to solve the crime, the NYPD CrimeStoppers released a surveillance photo of the perpetrator and asked for the public to help make identification. Only after fellow cops starting telling Lolja he looked just like the perpetrator did he turn himself in. Any punishment meted out to Lolja has to include his dismissal from the police force, Kia Phua, the newly elected union vice president for RTO, said. “He acted like a criminal. He ran like a criminal and should be treated like a criminal. He doesn’t deserve a NYPD badge and certainly should not have a gun.” In the last year, transit workers were criminally assaulted 89 times. They were harassed – kicked, shoved, threatened and spat upon – more than 2,000 times, according to MTA statistics.