By Michele Evans / NYweeklyRecord.com / Date: 7/24/2026
Category: Criminal Courts / NYPD Accountability / Police Misconduct / Public Safety
NEW YORK CITY, NY – The first criminal trial of an NYPD officer charged under New York City’s police chokehold law is set to begin in the Bronx, putting a reform born from nationwide demands for police accountability before a jury for the first time in the borough.
Officer Omar Habib, assigned to the 47th Precinct, has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors accuse him of using a prohibited chokehold during a July 29, 2023 encounter at an Eastchester Road catering hall. The indictment is an allegation, not proof, and Habib is presumed innocent unless and until a jury finds him guilty.
According to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, Habib responded to reports of an intoxicated man refusing to leave the hall. Prosecutors allege Habib wrapped his arm around the man’s neck, impeded his breathing or blood circulation, and caused him to temporarily lose consciousness.
A grand jury indicted Habib in August 2024 on charges that include second-degree strangulation, criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, assault, unlawful restraint and violating New York City Administrative Code 10-181. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. The most serious charge carries a potential sentence of up to seven years if he is convicted.
The city law, enacted in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd, makes it a misdemeanor for an officer making an arrest to restrain a person in a way that restricts the flow of air or blood by compressing the windpipe or carotid arteries. The Bronx prosecution is the borough’s first indictment of an officer under that law.
Gothamist previously reported that Habib had faced NYPD discipline connected to a separate chokehold allegation. That prior matter is distinct from the criminal case now headed to trial and does not establish guilt in the pending prosecution.
The trial will test more than one officer’s conduct. It will show whether a high-profile restraint ban can be enforced through the criminal courts, whether police body-camera and witness evidence can give jurors a clear account of a fast-moving encounter, and whether a law passed as a promise of reform has practical force.
The prosecution also raises accountability questions for the NYPD. What training did Habib receive on the city’s restraint ban? What supervisory review followed the 2023 encounter? Did the department identify any warning signs after the earlier disciplinary matter, and what, if anything, changed?
Those questions remain unanswered. The courtroom must decide only whether prosecutors prove the charged offenses beyond a reasonable doubt. But New Yorkers will also be watching the larger system: how police restraint rules are taught, enforced and reviewed when an encounter ends with a person unconscious.
Sources
Bronx District Attorney Indictment Release
Gothamist: First NYPD Officer Charged Under Chokehold Law Set for Trial
Leave a Reply