NYPD nixes slap of inspector in cop-film bust
The NYPD has declined to discipline a high-ranking cop for the arrest of a Black Starbucks barista on her way home from work past curfew during the 2020 George Floyd protests, despite a police watchdog’s determination he was “improperly forceful,” the Daily News has learned.
NYPD Deputy Inspector Robert O’Hare was involved in the June 20, 2020, arrest of Jessica Kiyee and her cousin Kiyee Kye. O’Hare and other officers confronted the cousins after they began filming cops arresting a Black man. Body camera footage cited in Kiyee and Kye’s lawsuit shows the officers arrested the cousins, but merely asked a white cyclist filming the ordeal to simply move along.
After a review of the incident, the Civilian Complaint Review Board concluded that five of the cops present for the cousins’ arrests, including O’Hare, should receive discipline of up to 10 days of docked pay.
The CCRB concluded that Officers James Shoulbis, Kachun Cheung and Jonathan Dones used improper force against Kye. O’Hare, who has since been promoted to inspector, was improperly physically forceful with Kiyee. Officer Richard Accardi spoke discourteously, the CCRB found.
On April 27, Commissioner Keechant Sewell’s office wrote CCRB Executive Director Jonathan Darche that she had rejected the watchdog’s recommendation.
“These four uniformed members of the service were effecting lawful arrests stemming from commercial burglaries in the area,” Inspector Lourdes Soto wrote in the letter, adding that the cops were “met with noncompliance.”
“In short, the action of these four uniformed members of the service are not actionable misconduct.”
Kiyee and Kye sued last year in Manhattan Federal Court over their arrests, which occurred amid the height of nationwide racial justice protests following Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police. Their suit alleged that as an essential worker, Kiyee was permitted to travel to and from work outside of the 8 p.m. curfew, which Mayor Bill de Blasio imposed amid nighttime looting in lower Manhattan, Midtown, and sections of the Bronx. Video showed cops threw Kiyee against a building wall. Cops took Kye roughly to the ground.
Adding insult to injury, O’Hare hollered, “You’re stupid!” at Kiyee while she was in handcuffs, according to the suit. The CCRB could not confirm who made the insult.
Kiyee suffered cuts, bruising, a severe leg strain and numbness in her right arm that lasted over three months due to the rough arrest, according to court filings. She told The News the incident destroyed her faith in New York’s Finest.
“As a 20-year-old Black, African female, coming from work — who’s been in this country for 12 years, hasn’t caused harm to anyone or anything — to be physically, plus mentally abused by the same people who are supposed to protect me, I feel violated, abused and neglected. It is so scary because now I have to think twice before calling police, in any situation,” said Kiyee, who no longer works for Starbucks.
“Because of their actions, I was on crutches for about two months, couldn’t work, and I couldn’t eat for almost three days.”
Kye and Kiyee’s ongoing lawsuit names
O’Hare and other officers involved in their arrest, as well as the NYPD and city. They say they were victims of false arrest and faced retaliation for exercising their right to film the cops, among other claims.
Kye suffered bruising to his entire body, lasting pain in his back and leg and recurrent dizziness, the lawsuit states. He said the CCRB recommendations confirmed the police had violated his rights.
“There is no accountability and no justice,” he said.
In 2009, Kye pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with an assassination plot to kill an NYPD officer. He served just under four years in prison for agreeing to supply a gun to a hitman who turned out to be an undercover officer, records show.
The cousins’ lawyer said the outcome underscored the impotence of the police watchdog. The NYPD need only consider the CCRB’s recommendations, not implement them.
“The prevalence of the NYPD to reject the conclusions of the CCRB shows how powerless and futile that agency is,” said Jay Goldberg. “It’s quite clear that the NYPD and the [Police Benevolent Association] control the city. The city does not control them.”
“The only people that were taken into custody without clear warning and an opportunity to leave were these two Black people,” added Goldberg.