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A Bronx boy who had been thrown from the roof of his apartment building was able to identify his attacker to a police officer, and that led to the arrest of a neighbor, the police said on Saturday.

Officers found the 9-year-old boy on the ground in front of the building about 8:30 p.m. on Friday after receiving a 911 call. He was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital where he was listed in critical condition with "severe body trauma" and was on life support, according to a police official.

But as he was being driven to the hospital, the official said, the boy told an officer that a 17-year-old neighbor, Casmine Aska, had thrown him from the roof of the building, at 1545 Nelson Avenue in Morris Heights, after some sort of dispute.

"He named him," the official said on Saturday. "The boy named the suspect."

Mr. Aska was stopped by officers as he was leaving the building with his mother and a brother. He was charged with attempted murder on Saturday.

During questioning by investigators, Mr. Aska gave conflicting accounts of what had happened with the boy on the roof.

"He gave several versions," the official said. "He wasn't there, he was up there, he tried to help him."