A serial shoplifter broke a bone in the face of a uniformed police officer moonlighting as a security guard at a Manhattan drug store on Friday morning, cops said.
The officer — whose name was not released — was working a department-sanctioned side gig at a Duane Reade on E. 34th St. in Murray Hill when store staff alerted her around 11:35 a.m. that one of their regular shoplifters was stealing, police said.
When the officer tried to keep the shoplifter from leaving the store by blocking a doorway, the punchy perp reached for her throat.
In a brief struggle, the officer tried to grab the dressed-in-black perpetrator — who then unleashed a roundhouse that knocked her to the ground.
The officer suffered a fractured bone in her face and a lacerated left ear. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, cops said.
No pilfered goods were recovered and the suspect was still at large on Friday night, said police.
Anyone with information about the incident can call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at (800) 577-8477. All calls are confidential.
