Tiffany Harris let loose again after second alleged assault
By Tina Moore, Andrew Denney and Aaron Feis
New York Post
December 30, 2019
A Brooklyn trouble magnet who dodged bail in an anti-Semitic assault over the weekend — only to be busted a day later in another alleged attack — walked free again on Monday courtesy of new bail-reform laws.
Tiffany Harris’ dizzying tour of the criminal-justice system saw her back in Brooklyn Criminal Court for the second time in three days, after she allegedly slugged a woman in the face in front of the victim’s two young children in Prospect Heights on Sunday.
But the encore appearance had a similar outcome to her arraignment just a day earlier for allegedly slapping three Orthodox Jewish women in Crown Heights on Friday while yelling, “Fuck you, Jews.”
Handcuffed by the state’s soft-on-crime bail-reform laws — which technically don’t take effect until Jan. 1 — prosecutors noted Harris’ déjà vu appearance, but could ask for no more than supervised release.
“We’re here two days after the defendant was here on another charge,” said prosecutor Evan Hannay to Judge Archana Rao.
“We believe the highest level of supervised release is appropriate.”
Rao granted that request, which requires Harris to check in periodically with a social worker — but allowed her to walk back onto city streets without putting up a dime of bail.
Harris pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges including assault in the third degree, menacing and endangering the welfare of a child.
Despite her alleged bashing spree, her low-level raps are not eligible for bail under the incoming laws, which prosecutors and courts across the city have been implementing ahead of time.
The laws also prohibit holding without bail those accused only of misdemeanors, even if the suspect appears to pose a future danger to the community.
The outcome incensed relatives of the 35-year-old victim in Sunday’s run-in, who was walking with her 3-year-old son and months-old daughter when she was allegedly ambushed by Harris.
“I reached out to the victim’s parents and the young woman [who] was punched in the face is very traumatized,” said a cousin of the victim, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“Police had assured them that because this was a hate crime … that she was going to be held this time,” the cousin said.
Sunday’s victim is Jewish, relatives said, but Harris was not charged with a hate crime because there was no obvious indication that the attack was motivated by bias.
Things were apparently much clearer in Friday’s assault.
“Yes, I slapped them. I cursed them out,” the Flatbush woman admitted to cops shortly after she allegedly slapped three Orthodox women on Eastern Parkway near Kingston Avenue, according to a criminal complaint.
“I said, ‘Fuck you, Jews.’ ”
Harris similarly pleaded not guilty during her Saturday arraignment for that attack, one of at least eight alleged anti-Semitic incidents to rock the city’s Jewish community amid the eight nights of Hanukkah.
The “revolving-door” justice afforded Harris — who has 13 total arrests in the city, most for assault — at a time when officials are vowing crackdowns on hate crimes also troubled some in law-enforcement.
“I feel terrible for the people in the Jewish community who continue to be victimized by not only criminals, but now … this revolving-door legislation,” said Ed Mullins, president of the NYPD’s sergeants’ union.
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