NEW YORK — A 16-year veteran of the NYPD, Sergeant Phillip Wong walked silently into a courtroom Thursday afternoon wearing handcuffs. 

Wong is accused of assaulting two individuals while in police custody. 

“We entered a plea of not guilty and we will see how it shakes out at trial,“ said Wong’s attorney Andrew Quinn.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is charging Wong with two misdemeanors: assault and attempted assault, both in the third degree. 

Prosecutors allege the sergeant roughed up two prisoners on two separate occasions. 

At the time of the incidents, Wong was assigned to Transit District 3. 

The first incident prosecutors alleged happened in October of 2019. According to the indictment, prosecutors accuse Wong of punching a 48-year-old man in a Harlem holding cell after he allegedly kicked the door and began spiting at the sergeant and other officers. 

Six months later, in April of 2020, prosecutors say Wong was the supervising officer at an arrest at an Upper West Side subway station. A 35-year-old man was being taken into custody, accused of punching another passenger. Authorities say once in handcuffs, the man kicked and began yelling racial slurs and other obscenities at Wong. The DA’s office alleges Wong and another officer brought the man to the group and is accused of punching the man in the face and putting both knees on his back, while he yelled “I cant breathe.”

“You hear people say vile, terrible things to police officers all the time. This is on a daily basis. A cop can’t step out of a car anymore in this city without somebody shouting either an ethnic or racial slur, or just an insulting comment at the officer. This is sort of the accepted standard in the city,” Quinn said.

In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said, "This Sergeant grossly violated his training – and the law – during the arrests of these two individuals, whose conduct did not justify these violent responses. Our Office will not accept police violence.”

Wong was released without bail and has been suspended from the department for 30 days. He is expected back in court on October 18.