NYC to pay $625K to woman whose son police ripped away

NEW YORK — New York City will pay $625,000 to resolve a lawsuit filed by a mother whose toddler was yanked from her arms by police in a widely seen online video, the city’s Law Department said.

Jazmine Headley sued the city in August alleging trauma and humiliation and seeking unspecified damages over the December 2018 incident at a Brooklyn benefits office.

In February, she testified before the New York City Council, which offered her a public apology and passed legislation aimed at improving how people are treated at benefits offices and making the system more transparent.

On Friday, the Law Department said the city will pay to resolve the lawsuit.

“Through her intelligence, bravery, and grace, Jazmine Headley turned the worst ordeal of her life — and of any parent’s — into an opportunity for change for the entire city,” Headley’s lawyers, Katherine Rosenfeld and Emma Freeman, said in a statement.

In the video, police officers are seen pulling Headley’s 18-monthold son away from her as they respond to a call about a dispute with a security guard.

Headley, 24, was arrested and spent four days in jail before Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez dropped charges of obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest, endangering the welfare of a child and trespassing.

Gonzalez said he was “horrified by the violence depicted in the video” and that the situation should have been handled differently.

Headley’s lawyers said she insisted “this incident was not just about her, but about the dignity of every young woman of color raising her family with immense love and hard work, in a difficult world.”