NYPD hunting for man who smashed bottle on Met Museum security’s officer’s head

Either the alleged assailant was in possession of his mental faculties and was simply looking for an excuse or a pretense to attack the Met security officer, or he is so mentally unhinged he felt justified in smashing a bottle over the officer's head for a painting he believed was hanging crooked. Either way, the act is a despicable one and further displays that security officers, like law enforcement, are often targets of unprovoked attacks. -- IFPO.

Brian Boucher, March 7, 2017, ArtNetNews:

The New York Police Department is on the lookout for a bearded young man who assaulted a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Friday evening. The attack came out of rage that the staffer wouldn’t right a painting the man said was hanging crooked.

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What happened? In the account of CBS, the man approached the guard, noting the askew artwork. In response, the guard told him that he should go to the information desk and let them know about the problem.

At that point, the assailant shouted “Do your job!” and smashed a bottle over the guard’s head.

The attack resulted in a laceration and a trip to Cornell Hospital, the NYPD tells artnet News. No artwork was damaged.

Despite leaving a trail of blood from a cut on his hand, the man escaped the museum and has since eluded authorities. He remains unidentified.

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Police say he looks to be in his early twenties, stands about five-foot-eight, and weighs about 150 pounds.

“Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782),” according to a press representative for the Central Park precinct of the NYPD. “The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.”

“The safety of our staff and visitors is our number one priority,” the Met said in a statement. “We are thankful that no visitors were injured in this incident, and the security officer suffered only minor injuries. We are grateful for the professionalism of our security team, and are working in coordination with the NYPD on this incident.”