Queens Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry was hospitalized Thursday after a suspected thief fleeing from his alleged victim ran through a ribbon-cutting ceremony and bodied the 75-year-old politician — knocking him to the ground.
Aubry and other local pols were gathered for a press conference at the Louis Armstrong Center in Corona around 11 a.m. when the man suddenly drove up to the location — where the street had been closed off for the opening ceremony — and hopped out of his silver Hyundai, cops said.
The suspect took off on foot down 107th Street and collided with Aubry at full force — causing the longtime assembly member to fall and hit his head.
Aubry, who had just spoken at the center’s opening, suffered a laceration to his head and was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital in stable condition.
“The Assemblymember was treated and released from Elmhurst Hospital for a laceration over his eye,” Aubry spokesperson Tyquana Henderson-Rivers said in a statement obtained by City & State. “He is in great spirits and doing well.”
The suspect — identified as Tzyah Bryant, 23, of Staten Island — was grabbed by cops a short distance later, police said.
Before the collision, Bryant met up with another individual at the corner of 96th Street and 32nd Avenue to buy sneakers the person had advertised online. He allegedly handed the seller counterfeit money after he had the kicks in his possession, police said.
When the seller realized he was duped, Bryant tried to escape and fled in his vehicle followed by his alleged victim.
Nearly a mile away from the meetup spot, Bryant was stopped by the roadblock for the ceremony and that’s when he exited his vehicle and ran through the crowd and crashed with Aubry, according to cops.
Bryant was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, petit larceny, and 28 counts of forgery.