Cops: Westbury man charged in brutal Hempstead assault

A 20-year-old Westbury man was arrested Thursday afternoon, charged in connection with a brutal assault that occurred in Hempstead Sunday.

Nassau County police said Hector Rivas-Merino of Swalm Street was arrested at 4 p.m. at Westbury Manor in Carle Place, charged with first-degree assault, leaving the scene of an accident with serious physical injury and with unlicensed operation of a vehicle.

He is scheduled for arraignment Friday in First District Court in Hempstead.

The attack occurred at 3:47 a.m. Sunday on Fulton Avenue in Hempstead, police said.

It was then, police said, that Rivas-Merino and two others in a burgundy Nissan Altima stopped the car on the sidewalk and were involved in a verbal altercation with a 23-year-old man. That altercation "escalated to the point at which the three subjects exited the car" and beat the man with two baseball bats and a metal pipe, police said. The trio then jumped back in the car and, driving on the sidewalk, ran over the victim before speeding off westbound on Fulton, police said.

The victim, whose identity was not released, was admitted to a local hospital in critical but stable condition with internal injuries and a fractured pelvis.

His current condition was unknown Friday.