Trial of officer who tackled retired tennis player ends; results unknown

NEW YORK — The internal disciplinary trial of a police officer who tackled retired pro tennis player James Blake and slammed him to the ground in a mistaken arrest concluded Tuesday, but the public and Blake aren’t entitled to the details of any punishment.

Officers’ disciplinary records are secret under state law, city officials say. Blake said he expects to be told the outcome by the police watchdog group that brought the case, but it’s not a right.

“That I’m not entirely entitled to know what happens when it involved me just makes no sense,” Blake told The Associated Press. “Something needs to change.”

Officer James Frascatore, who arrested Blake outside a Manhattan hotel in 2015, has been accused of using inappropriate force on someone who never resisted or tried to flee. Frascatore was part of an undercover operation targeting credit card fraud and mistakenly thought Blake was one of the suspects. The arrest was captured on security video.

Lawyers for the police watchdog group prosecuting the case recommended Frascatore forfeit 10 vacation days as a punishment. The trial judge makes a recommendation about the punishment, but the police commissioner decides what punishment, if any, is handed out.

The mayor and the former police commissioner publicly apologized to the ex-tennis star after his bogus arrest.

Blake, who has a black father and a white mother, said 10 days of lost vacation was laughable and called on the mayor and the commissioner to fire Frascatore, who’s white, and to make the decision public. He said it’s especially important to send a message to communities of color.