Hero-to-zero Officer Eugene Donnelly pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault Tuesday for pummeling a Bronx woman in her apartment hours after he was honored by the NYPD — but he’ll avoid jail because the victim told prosecutors that rehab, not time behind bars, is what he really needs, authorities said.
Donnelly will be sentenced June 1 to three years’ probation and must get treatment for his drinking problem, according to the Bronx District Attorney’s office.
The seven-year veteran, who is on modified duty, could also lose his job if he is convicted of the department charges filed against him.
Donnelly in June 2014 was honored at the NYPD’s Medal Day with the Police Combat Cross, the department’s second-highest honor, for his bravery in arresting a teen gunman after a wild Bronx gunfight two years earlier.
The next morning, Donnelly, clad only in his underwear, barged into the victim’s Woodlawn apartment and punched her up to 20 times.
He then fled, but not before drinking milk from her refrigerator, police sources said at the time.
Donnelly’s lawyer had argued the cop was sleepwalking and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following a shooting.
The pre-trial plea spared the 33-year-old victim from testifying, something she told prosecutors she did not want to do, her father said Tuesday.
“She just wants this over,” said the dad, who asked his name not be printed. “I wanted there to be a trial, but she just wanted this to be done. She’s been fragile. When my son comes home at night and closes the door and makes a loud noise, she wakes up screaming.
“She’s far from recovering from this.”
His daughter could not immediately be reached Tuesday.
But last May, after Donnelly was busted for allegedly crashing his car on the Upper West Side while driving drunk, she told the Daily News she hoped the cop would get the help he needed.
“That’s all I want,” she said. “I have compassion for people’s problems. I hope he owns up to his problems and takes responsibility and gets help, and I will bear no ill will toward him.”
