The 16-year-old boy who allegedly punched a cop in a Manhattan subway station was free to strike after being sprung without bail in a violent robbery case just a few days earlier.

The boy — who is not being identified because he’s a minor — was freed on his own recognizance following his bust on Wednesday on allegations he and three others jumped a 49-year-old man on a Midtown street, punching the victim and running off with his cellphone.

Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office requested he be released with “intensive community monitoring” at his arraignment, though they could have requested bail on the top robbery charge.

A few days later on Saturday, the boy was arrested for the subway incident, in which he was caught on camera violently attacking a Manhattan cop after allegedly jumping a turnstile at the 125th Street-Lexington Avenue station in East Harlem.

The teen was again released without bail Sunday and the case was transferred to Family Court, where proceedings are hidden from public view. Under the state’s “Raise the Age” law enacted in 2017, the majority of cases involving 16 and 17-year-olds are now diverted directly to Family Court.

During a hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors said they hoped the robbery case would also be moving to family court.

At their request, a judge sent the teen to St. John’s, a “non-secure detention facility” in Queens, where he’ll have a 6 p.m. curfew and be subject to monitoring as the case plays out.

“The People have not obtained supporting depositions that is required to transfer this case to Family Court,” ADA Eva Dowdell said during the hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court’s Youth Part.

“We are asking the court to transfer [the defendant] to the care of St. John’s residence.”

Judge Althea Drysdale agreed.

“I’m going to be releasing you on your own recognizance, because The People have asked me to release you on your own recognizance,” Drysdale told the teen. “I just said to you, I’m releasing you to St. John’s.”

Stern in her demeanor, Drysdale repeatedly asked the teen if he understood the conditions of his release to the St. John’s facility.

Each time he responded, “Yes, your honor.”

At the end of the hearing, the boy asked the court, “Am I allowed to press charges?”

“Press charges against who?” Drysdale replied.

The teen did not give a clear answer.

The boy didn’t answer reporters’ questions as he left the courthouse with his attorney Tuesday. He is due back in court Friday, when prosecutors expect to be able to move the case to Family Court.

At 16, the teen falls within the so-called Raise the Age law meant to keep young people accused of crimes out of the adult system. The legislation increased the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18 throughout the state, effective on Oct. 1, 2019.

Under the law, 16- and 17-year-old suspects are sent to Family Court as long as their cases don’t involve a violent felony with a deadly weapon, a sex crime or “significant physical injury” to their victim.

The teen at the center of the subway brawl faces second-degree robbery and assault charges for a midnight Midtown mugging on June 21, in which prosecutors say he and three others punched a man in the head and stole his phone.

The late-night larceny on East 40th Street and Madison Avenue left the victim with cuts to his head and hand, according to a criminal complaint.

The teen’s case has prompted outrage from cops, with the  Police Benevolent Association union sharing video of the transit system beating saying, “Cops are putting ourselves on the line to make the subways safer, but we are feeling abandoned by a justice system that won’t back us up.”

Mayor Eric Adams, during a City Hall news conference on Tuesday, used the teen as a poster child for everything that’s wrong with the criminal justice system.

“We need to look at violent offenders and this is a clear case of that,” Adams said. “Robbery is a violent crime. But as soon as we catch them, the system releases them and they repeat the action… When I say we’re the laughingstock of the country, this is what I’m talking about.”

A spokesperson for the Manhattan DA’s office insisted that “intensive community monitoring was the appropriate pre-trial determination” in the robbery case, citing the teen’s age, which was 15 at the time, and saying that he had no previous arrests they knew of.

Police sources have said the boy has a sealed case from April in which he was arrested after allegedly being found in a car with a loaded gun and a crossbow in Brooklyn.

“Our system must respond to children as children,” spokeswoman Emily Tuttle told The Post.

Bail is meant to ensure a suspect’s return to court, Tuttle said, noting the teen did show up to his hearing on Tuesday.

Addressing the boy’s subway assault arrest, Tuttle said the DA’s office was seeking “age-appropriate interventions” to address the alleged crimes.

“Violence against our police officers is unacceptable, and given his age at the time of arrest, we consented to send his second case to Family Court as soon as possible, where he would receive the age-appropriate interventions and supports he needs while being held accountable,” she said.