Officer suspended after using banned choke hold
NEW YORK — A New York City police officer removed from duty after he was recorded putting a man in what the police commissioner said was a banned choke hold once faced criminal charges alleging he pistolwhipped a teenage suspect and broke two of his teeth.
Queens prosecutors said Monday they’ve opened an investigation into Officer David Afanador’s actions on the boardwalk at Rockaway Beach, adding that “there must be zero tolerance for police misconduct.”
The police department moved quickly to suspend Afanador without pay after Sunday’s confrontation. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the swift action was a sign of “unprecedented times.”
“I think we have an obligation to act swiftly,” Shea told TV station NY1.
Shea announced the suspension only hours after video of the incident was posted on social media.
It’s at least the second time Afanador has been suspended from the force. The officer was sidelined after his 2014 arrest, only to return to duty after a judge acquitted him of all charges. In that case, Afanador was seen on video using his gun to hit a 16yearold boy during a marijuana bust.
In Sunday’s incident, a video shot by one of the men involved in the altercation showed officers tackling a Black man and Afanador putting his arm around the man’s neck.
Body camera footage released by police showed that for at least 11 minutes before the arrest, three men were shouting insults at the police.