Metro

Man accused of assault walks — because cop ‘lied’ in paperwork

This domestic violence arrest has gone topsy-turvy.

A two-year NYPD officer is facing possible jail, and a South Bronx man accused of repeatedly punching his girlfriend in the face has gone free — all because the cop made a critical error in writing up the arrest.

Officer Asar Sanad, 29, turned herself in to Bronx prosecutors on Thursday and is charged with lying on the arrest paperwork by claiming she personally witnessed Jose Garcia punching a woman on Feb. 15 in an apartment on 142nd Street.

In fact, it had been two other cops who witnessed the alleged assault, as Sanad should have noted in helping draft the criminal complaint. Instead, she stated that she herself saw Garcia grab the woman on her shoulder and then strike the woman in the face “multiple times with a closed fist.”

The Bronx DA’s office attempted to prosecute Garcia’s domestic violence case — but when they uncovered Sanad’s name switch, they dropped the case against Garcia in October, and opened a case against the cop.

Sanad is charged with three misdemeanors that could cost her job and put her in jail for up to a year: making a punishable false written statement, falsifying business records and offering a false instrument for filing. She is suspended without pay, NYPD officials said.

“When all the facts are known, this will be seen to be an honest mistake and nothing more,” Sanad’s lawyer, Steven Worth, told The Post. “This cop had nothing to gain from this.”

The two officers who did witness the alleged assault have always been available to testify regarding the incident, and their names were simply left off the complaint by mistake, Worth said.

“She’s a probie cop,” the lawyer added, referring to Sanad’s status as a probationary officer. “This was merely a training issue, not intentional wrongdoing,” he said.

Additional reporting by Laura Italiano