Lawyer: Arrest these cops
Sez they brutally shoved client down stationhouse steps for no reason
Body-worn camera video obtained by the Daily News shows a 23-year-old man plunging down a flight of stairs after his lawyer says two cops shoved him in what he calls a case of brutality sparked by a disagreement over a lost green card.
Kenniel Thomas landed on his bicycle and has had back issues ever since the confrontation last May 3, including possible nerve damage, said the lawyer, Andrew Stengel.
Stengel filed a lawsuit Monday evening accusing police of excessive force and wrongful arrest in the incident at the 69th Precinct stationhouse in Canarsie, Brooklyn.
“The kid did nothing wrong,” Stengel said. “He’s making a gesture, like, ‘Why are you doing this?’ He’s exasperated. And they both shove him.
“They brutalized him.”
As a final indignity, as Thomas lay on the ground, another officer got into an NYPD SUV parked perpendicular to the curb and started the engine, blowing exhaust smoke in Thomas’ face, Stengel said.
He was taken to Brookdale University Hospital for treatment, and then was charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct, accused of yelling at police and insulting them.
Four months later, the charges were dismissed. Stengel said that after the Brooklyn district attorney’s office handed the video to him, prosecutors purposely delayed the case long enough to break rules giving Thomas the right to a speedy trial.
The DA’s office said it couldn’t comment on a sealed case.
Police also refused to answer questions about the incident, including whether the accused cops, Sgt. Miguel Vivas, a 10-year veteran, or Officer Kion Gayle, who has less than two years on the force, face departmental charges. The officers could not be reached for comment. Stengel said they should be arrested.
“There should be criminal consequences for the obvious intentional assault,” Stengel said. “Kenniel, standing on steps leading to the precinct, was not a threat to police. There is no question that Gayle and Vivas intended to injure Kenniel by pushing him down the steps and onto the sidewalk.
“They succeeded, and unfortunately, Kenniel’s injuries aren’t going away anytime soon.”
Stengel said his client, who was born in Jamaica, went to the stationhouse to report having lost his green card. He kept asking for help, Stengel said, and the officers kept refusing.
Their body-worn camera videos show the officers escorting Thomas out of the stationhouse.
Thomas, a slight 5-feet-6 and 138 pounds, has his hands turned up, but is not seen making a move toward the officers.
The video shows him being shoved, and his subsequent fall down five steps. He hit his bicycle on the sidewalk.
Thomas, now 24, is being held at Rikers Island on $50,000 bail following a September gun possession arrest — an allegation that Stengel said is irrelevant to the suit at hand.
“He did nothing wrong inside that precinct,” Stengel said. “He should not have been treated that way.”
The city Correction Department is also named in the suit, accused of not providing Thomas proper medical care aside from physical therapy once a month. Correctional Health Services said it can’t comment on a prisoner’s medical care.