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Cop Accused Of Tossing Handcuffed Teen Through A Storefront Window
By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 21, 2014
Modified May 21, 2014
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Christopher Parypa / Shutterstock.com
By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 21, 2014
Modified May 21, 2014
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An NYPD officer allegedly tossed a handcuffed 14-year-old boy through the glass window of an Arthur Avenue hookah shop in the Bronx on Saturday night.
Daryl Khan of the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange quotes an unnamed city employee, who says that Javier Payne nearly succumbed to his wounds as police officers stood idly by:
“He looked like a young man who was facing down his own mortality,” said one city employee familiar with the incident. “This is a kid who was staring at his own doom. He looked like he was going to die. And if he didn’t get help when he did, he would have.”
Khan reports that officers initially refused to call EMS to treat Payne, believing that his wounds weren't serious enough to merit medical attention.
An argument ensued between the paramedics and police about removing the teenager’s handcuffs so they could treat his injuries. Initially, the police refused, but eventually relented, witnesses said.
Eventually Payne was taken to Jacobi Medical Center. JJIE has a photo of him laying in his hospital bed.
An NYPD spokeswoman tells us that Payne and another 13-year-old suspect were identified by a victim of an assault at around 11 p.m. Saturday night. The victim said the two boys "punched him in the face multiple times causing a bloody lip, and causing him to fall and receive a laceration on his right elbow."
The spokeswoman said that when Payne and the 13-year-old were stopped by police, they "resisted arrest and refused to be cuffed." Nothing in the NYPD's report contained any reference to Payne being thrown through the window of 2491 Arthur Avenue while he was in handcuffs.
“I came out and saw the the glass and the blood—it was everywhere,” a neighbor told Khan. “Thank God he is going to make it. I didn’t know he was just a kid, a young guy like that. It’s a total shock to me. Why would they do that?”
Payne's mother described her son, the youngest of seven children, as "immature for his age," and added that NYPD Internal Affairs detectives interviewed him in the hospital after he had undergone hours of surgery. His stepfather told Khan, “He’s a little guy. He’s 14 but he looks much smaller. There was no need for this. They said he still has pieces of glass in his lung.”
Payne and the 13-year-old were charged with assault, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration.
Tagged
arthur avenue
bronx
internal affairs
police brutality
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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