Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Times Photographer Arrested In The Bronx Says NYPD Is Lying
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 7, 2012
Modified Aug 7, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 7, 2012
Modified Aug 7, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Be sure you're sitting down before reading further, or at least standing next to your favorite fainting couch: The NYPD may not be telling the truth regarding its rough arrest of a NY Times photographer on Saturday night. You'll recall that photographer Robert Stolarik was in the Bronx with two reporters conducting street interviews when a street fight erupted in the Concourse neighborhood. According to the Times, the NYPD claims:
Officers had been trying to disperse the crowd and had given “numerous lawful orders” for both the crowd and Mr. Stolarik to move back, but that he tried to push forward, “inadvertently” striking an officer in the face with his camera. The police said that Mr. Stolarik then “violently resisted being handcuffed” and that, in the process, a second officer was cut on the hand.
Stolarik was arrested, held in jail overnight, and charged with obstructing government administration and with resisting arrest. He insists the charges are bogus, and, in an interview with Daily Intel, claims that NYPD officers first tried to stop him from taking photos, then assaulted him:
According to Stolarik, he was first approached by a female officer, who put her hand on his camera and told him to stop shooting. After he pointed out his media credentials and continued, Stolarik said, a second officer approached and "handled the camera more aggressively, pushed it into me." When he asked for the officers' names and badge numbers, he was "surrounded and taken down — dragged, kicked, and stomped on."
"My camera hitting anybody is an untruth," Stolarik told Intel. "They just get to say whatever they feel like saying and then charging me with whatever they feel like charging me with to justify their actions. They were violent toward me, and they were violent toward the media. I always try to be reasonable. But there's going to be a next generation [of journalists] to come up, and if we accept this type of behavior, what happens to that next group of people?"
Stolarik has not gotten his camera and equipment back from the NYPD, and he says he's out roughly $20,000 in materials and additional lost income from being unable to work. Currently, he has no plans to sue—he just wants the charges dropped and his property back, but as it stands now, he will not be able to obtain his equipment until his November court date. In an interview with Politicker, Stolarik says the NYPD allegation that he was violently resisting arrest, “the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard in my life." He elaborates further on the incident:
When I went to go shoot it, a cop grabbed my lens and shoved it down. I said, "Don’t touch my lens." Another cop came to her rescue, if that’s what we want to call it. He grabbed the camera, pushed it into my face. They both told me to "get the fuck out of there" and I continued to shoot and asked for their badge numbers. When I asked for their badge numbers, they turned violent, they surrounded me, they knocked me to the ground, dragged me while I was on the ground. There were like six or more….One of which was kicking me in the back. They were not cuffing me and taking a real long time stepping on my head.
To be fair, a good head stomp takes time—it doesn't just happen. And in addition to his lack of equipment, Stolarik's press credentials have also been confiscated, making it even more difficult for him to work. “The police department has used this as their personal way to kind of take away my livelihood," Stolarik concludes.
Tagged
media blackout
nypd
police brutality
robert stolarik
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Queens man found dead, police say, and injured woman is his mother, neighbors say
Police are investigating a related incident in which a 62-year-old woman was found injured beneath the Van Wyck Expressway.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 7:39 p.m. ET
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
News
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
Brooklyn school dean says MTA officers assaulted him over a $3 bus fare he says he paid
By
Carol Chen
National Grid customers in NYC will see higher gas bills this winter
By
Rosemary Misdary
Bruce Blakeman joins Gov. Hochul in support for expanding NY rape law
By
Jon Campbell
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .