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Video: Cop Repeatedly Punches Teen During Arrest
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 19, 2014
Modified Dec 19, 2014
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 19, 2014
Modified Dec 19, 2014
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The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating an arrest caught on camera by a witness on the Lower East Side. The video shows several officers struggling to handcuff a young man when a plainclothes officer rushes up and punches the suspect repeatedly. Here's the video, which has graphic language and loud screaming at roughly 10 seconds in:
The video was published on Facebook on December 15th by one Sarah Doneghy. She says she encountered the scene on her way to the post office, and writes, "The kids were 12. They had supposedly pushed one of their classmates down. However when the victim was asked, he said those weren't the guys. They were still taken away. 12. Years. Old."
An NYPD spokesman tells us the young man who was punched is 16, not 12. The department has issued this statement: "The incident is under review and the allegations have been referred to our Internal Affairs Bureau. Additionally, this individual was arrested with two others for assaulting another identified person with a cane."
The Lo-Down has more: "Cops indicate they were involved in a gang initiation rite on Madison Street across from the Rutgers public housing development. The suspects are accused of hitting a bystander, a man in his early 20’s, over the head with a cane. Uniformed cops caught up with the suspects on East Broadway, just west of Clinton Street, a few moments later. They say one of the teens resisted arrest. The plainclothes officer, they tell us, stepped in as other cops struggled to cuff the suspect. The teen, they say, was not injured during the arrest. All three have been charged with felony gang assault."
The NYPD Patrol Guide states, "Only that amount of force necessary to overcome resistance will be used to effect an arrest..."
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nypd
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.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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