Markets 
A NYPD cop turned “vigilante” was hit with attempted murder and kidnapping charges Thursday for a wild caught-on-video off-duty shooting that left the victim clinging to life on a respirator.
Jonathan Baez, 44, a 12-year veteran of the department, allegedly chased down the men he believed had stolen his car two days earlier on March 16, pinning one man to the ground at gunpoint and shooting another in the head when he tried to get away — leaving him critically wounded, prosecutors said.
“He is an NYPD officer sworn to protect and serve the public with integrity, courtesy, professionalism and respect. It pains me to say that he is now charged,” Bronx Assistant District Attorney Jon Veiga said at the cop’s arraignment. “He went from a crime victim, on Saturday night, March 14, to a vigilante.”
Baez was furious after his 2024 Honda CRV was stolen from outside his Riverdale apartment building, and allegedly did more than 200 searches on NYPD databases to track down a white Hyundai Genesis spotted next to the stolen vehicle on surveillance footage, prosecutors said.
He found the Hyundai two days later and followed the vehicle on the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Major Deegan, until it exited around West 230th St. in Kingsbridge around 9 p.m., prosecutors said.
Chilling surveillance footage at the scene shows Baez jumping out of his car with his gun drawn, ordered the driver out of the car “and straddled him with the gun pressed against his back,” Veiga said.
Baez allegedly then “ordered that victim to make another 911 call to say that he was being held at gun point,” the prosecutors said. “The driver made the call, telling the dispatcher, ‘I’m being held with a gun, and I don’t know why.’”
Veiga said Baez told the man on the ground, “I’m not the police.”
That’s when a passenger in the back seat of the Hyundai jumped behind the wheel and started to pull away — when the off-duty cop allegedly fired two shots, striking the 30-year-old victim in the head as he sat in the passenger’s seat.
Veiga said two of the men “may have actually been involved in the theft of this car.
“Unfortunately, the person who was shot in the head, was absolutely not involved in the theft of the defendant’s car,” he said. “He’s the one who’s lying on a ventilator right now.”
He asked that Baez be held on $250,000 cash bail or a $750,000 bond.
The cop was indicted on charges of attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, computer trespass and official misconduct, pleading not guilty.
His lawyer, Mark Bederow, said his client has been with the NYPD since 2014, and does not have a record of disciplinary action — and is aware of how serious the charges are.
He said Baez is currently suspended with pay.
In court, Bederow asked Bronx Supreme Court Justice Laurence Busching to release the cop without bail or reasonable bail while he fights the charges, and said he is not a risk to flee.
“When this incident occurred in March, it was all over the media, in the New York Post, on television. Officer Baez was named as the person involved, and here is today,” the lawyer said.
Busching set the amount a $100,000 in cash or a $250,000 bond.
“Police officers are sworn to serve and protect the public, and even when they are off duty, they are expected to conduct themselves with integrity,” Bronx DA Darcel Clark said in a statement.
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