STOMPED BY COPS
Commish to probe abuse claim after seeing video of bust in Brooklyn
A young Brooklyn man said he was traumatized but glad to be alive Thursday after he was punched, kicked and tackled to the ground by more than a half-dozen cops in a caught-on-camera sidewalk arrest that was eerily reminiscent of the racially charged Eric Garner case.
Fitzroy Gayle told the Daily News that he was accosted Wednesday night outside Glenwood Park in Canarsie by a plainclothes police officer who never showed him identification, didn’t accuse him of a crime and threatened to use a Taser as he pressed him against a metal fence on Glenwood Road.
Cell phone video of the encounter shows that after more than two minutes of protesting his innocence, Gayle was confronted by more than a half-dozen cops who tackled him to the ground, where he was punched and kicked before being carted off.
“Ahhh!! Take your hands off me! What are you doing! Help!” Gayle screams during the video recorded by a bystander and shared widely since appearing online Wednesday night.
Cops took Gayle to the 69th Precinct stationhouse where he was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing government administration and possession of marijuana. He was given a summons to appear in court at a later date.
Gayle said he did nothing wrong.
“A plainclothes officer comes across the street towards me with a flashlight saying, ‘Hold on for a second for me, Bro,’ ” Gayle said.
“He said it like, ‘Just go over there and relax.’ I was like, ‘Who are you? You’re plainclothes, so I don’t know if you’re an officer or who you are.’ I asked him what crime I committed. He was pushing me against the gate. He threatened me with a Taser.”
Video of the 8 p.m. arrest shows Gayle, whose hands were raised, going back and forth with the first cop, who kept telling him not to move. First the cop reached for a radio, presumably to call for backup. Seconds later lights and sirens filled the street before additional officers sprinted over to assist in the arrest.
“They were holding me down,” Gayle said. “They were trying to knee me hard. I was trying to not get kicked in the face. They were just kneeing me and punching, punching. They put the cuffs on me after.
“They didn’t charge me with anything. I got a desk appearance ticket for being in the park after hours. They said they were going to charge me with resisting arrest. I resisted in panic.”
Gayle said cops lied and told his mother that he was running when he was stopped. He also denied having marijuana.
“I’m just glad to be alive,” Gayle said. “It could’ve been worse. I’ve never been arrested. I try to stay away from police. I was surprised at the time. I’m really not surprised now. It’s expected. They think we don’t know our rights. They try to take advantage of that. Maybe because of my appearance, my do-rag, sweatsuit, black, I’m a ’hood dude, whatever. But I’m alive.”
Gayle’s mother, Daphne, said she was home, and was getting worried when her son didn’t pick up the phone.
She said she called about 15 times and sent about five text messages. Finally, her daughter called from Florida and told her about the video that was going viral.
“When they put him down on the ground, it reminded me of Eric Garner,” she said of the Staten Island man who died in 2014 after a group of cops, including one who used a banned chokehold, tried to arrest him for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes.
“It’s the same thing. You’re going to call backup for a young man who doesn’t have a gun, doesn’t have a weapon, doesn’t have anything? Does it take six or seven strong NYPD men to hold down one young man?
“I was traumatized. You think that’s fair for any family member to see? In my mind I was like, here we go again, this is another case like Eric Garner. That man died at the hands of police officers and he didn’t do anything. I thank Jesus because I could be like Eric Garner’s family right now, but thank God he’s alive.”
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the incident would be investigated, but noted there were disturbing elements of the video.
“I’m going to look for an investigation,” Shea said, explaining that cops were called to a nearby park on a ShotSpotter alert that gunfire had been detected.
It was unclear if there were any shots fired.
When cops arrived at the scene, Gayle and an 18-yearold man, who were allegedly seen smoking marijuana, ran off in different directions, Shea said.
One officer caught up with Gayle before the video started, Shea said.
“The other male was also apprehended and issued a summons,” Shea said.
“Certainly if you look at the totality of the incident, there are two very separate outcomes. But I would like to have seen a third outcome. I would have liked to see an approach, discussion, no running, no physical resistance at all and no arrest needed.”
Shea said Gayle had cuts to his knee but no bruises on his face from the arrest.
Responding officers may not have known that Gayle was unarmed when he was stopped, Shea said.
“They arrive at the scene and two people take off running,” he said. “I’ve been in that position myself and you don’t know what you have.”
“The end is what concerns me,” he added. “Certainly we will have to take a look at it.”
A high-ranking police official said none of the cops involved have been placed on modified duty.
The video has drawn the ire of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain.
“I just had an opportunity to view this video, and I find it completely unacceptable,” Adams tweeted Thursday. “I will be reaching out to @NYCMayor and @NYPDShea. Every officer involved should be placed on modified assignment pending the outcome of a thorough investigation.”
About a dozen community activists rallied outside the stationhouse demanding answers amid more accusations of police brutality.
“We don’t want the NYPD and Internal Affairs to do their investigation,” said the Rev. Kevin McCall of Crisis Action Center. “The police policing the police, we don’t have faith in that system. We’re calling on the district attorney to open an investigation on every officer that brutalized this young man.”