Commish defends officers who beat men with batons
The city’s top cop Friday backed the actions of a pair of officers caught on video repeatedly hammering two men with batons outside a Washington Heights subway station.
“There is a lot more to the story,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said of the cell phone video of NYPD cops tussling with Aaron Grissom, 36, and Sidney Williams, 37, outside the W. 169th St. and Broadway stop.
“Of course, when you see the initial video, there’s a lot of questions that you’re asking, and a lot of questions that I was asking,” O’Neill told Joe Piscopo on his AM 970 morning show. “They were approached and they were told that there were people on the stairway harassing passengers and they did their job. ”
The cops involved in the incident Tuesday — Officers Jeffrey Mota and Bramlin Rosa — were on a fixed post at the 168th St. and Broadway station responding to community concerns about vagrants when they heard about Grissom and Williams bothering people on stairs leading to the station.
O’Neill said the officers told Grissom and Williams to leave, but the duo refused.
“One of the cops made a decision to arrest Mr. Grissom and Mr. Williams, and Grissom decided he was going to punch a cop, and you can’t punch a cop,” O’Neill explained.
O’Neill noted that Grissom’s criminal record includes arrests for prior clashes with police and said he “makes his living” suing the police department.
“If we’re going to ask our cops to (intervene), we have to back them up,” he said. “We’re looking for the DA to work to indict Grissom. We’re looking for the DA to charge Williams and to request bail. It’s not just about the two cops, it’s about all New York City cops and keeping them safe.”
The Internal Affairs Bureau is looking into the whether the baton strikes were within department guidelines.
“Keep in mind these two subjects attacked our police officers and a baton is a tool that (cops) use,” O’Neill said.
The Manhattan district attorney will defer charges against Williams while seeking assault charges against his running buddy — and possible relative — Grissom.
“Our office is conducting a full, fair, and independent investigation into the alleged offenses for which Mr. Grissom and Mr. Williams were arrested,” Danny Frost, a spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney, said. “We are separately conducting a full, fair, and independent investigation into the force used by officers.”
High-profile attorney Sanford Rubenstein, who is representing both Williams and Grissom, lashed back at O’Neill’s comments Friday.
“I hope the police commissioner’s comments are not construed to mean the use of excessive force by members of the NYPD is acceptable,” Rubenstein said following a press conference in the Bronx.