Screenshot from NYPD body cam footage
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The NYPD officer whose horseback pursuit of a purse-snatching suspect down West 72nd Street went viral last month has been promoted, and he’s now spoken publicly about the chase that put him in the national spotlight.
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Officer Kyle McLaughlin, 36, was elevated to detective at a Friday ceremony. The promotion follows the April 15 incident on the Upper West Side, in which McLaughlin, riding his horse Kelly, was filmed galloping down West 72nd Street near Columbus Avenue in pursuit of a fleeing suspect. Video of the chase drew millions of views online.McLaughlin told amNewYork he had been riding Kelly toward Central Park when a member of the public flagged him down to report the theft in progress. “I was able to apprehend the individual safely, and no one got hurt,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’re New York City police officers, and we have to take action.”
McLaughlin, a husband and father, said he was glad his family got to see what he does at work and welcomed the chance to show what he called another side of the department. “Our department doesn’t really get that much good recognition, and it’s good to see that there’s another side to this department. We are here to help everyone,” he said.
The suspect, 44-year-old Felicia Field, was charged with grand larceny and false personation following the arrest.
Field’s criminal history drew significant attention online in the days after the chase. According to Police1, Field is on lifetime parole for the April 2000 killing of livery cab driver Cesar Manuel Lopez during a botched robbery in Brooklyn, when she was 18. She was convicted of murder, attempted robbery, and weapon possession, and was released in April 2025 after serving 24 years. Field has been arrested twice since her release — for misdemeanor assault and menacing in Brooklyn in February, and for petty larceny and possession of stolen property in Manhattan in March — and was released without bail in both cases, according to Police1.
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Despite the promotion, McLaughlin will remain with the NYPD’s Mounted Unit and continue to be partnered with Kelly. The 23-year-old horse, a former standardbred who was rescued from slaughter before joining the force in 2020, did not receive a rank of his own — though, by his partner’s account, he earned his reward in carrots. “Kelly’s one of the smallest horses in the unit, but he’s got the biggest heart, and he’s a mush with everyone,” McLaughlin said. “But at the end of the day, don’t challenge him, because he will step up to the plate.”Have a news tip? Send it to us here!
