A dispute over a water balloon has a Police Academy instructor clinging to his life in the Bronx. The Daily News reports that on Wednesday afternoon 43-year-old Ernesto Rodriguez was off-duty, driving his 7-year-old son home when his car was hit by a water balloon. And then things got bad.
Rodriguez, apparently bothered by the splash, pulled his car over at 181st Street and Tiebout Avenue and approached a group of men of various ages on the corner. At which point he was "sucker-punched" by one of them, fell over and hit his head on the sidewalk, cracking his skull.
To relieve swelling in his head Rodriquez underwent brain surgery at St. Barnabas Hospital on Wednesday and is listed in critical condition. "Something like this, he could be out and about in a week," a source told the tabloid. "Or he could be dead."
Commissioner Kelly reportedly visited the officer's family yesterday after Keith McNeil, 20, surrendered himself to the police for the punching. He has been charged with misdemeanor assault.
