NEW YORK (PIX11) — A man was beaten by police in a case of mistaken identity inside a Brooklyn liquor store, leading to an internal investigation by the NYPD.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the actions of the officers “extremely disturbing and unacceptable” in a social media post on Wednesday.
The man was punched and had his head slammed into the counter window of the liquor store as two cops — one dressed in an NYPD-issued vest and badge and the other in plain clothes —held his arms back, the video shows.
The plain-clothes cop kneed the man in the midsection multiple times before he slammed into a shelf of glass bottles, which shattered, causing the man to bleed, the video shows.
Both cops then dragged the man through the broken glass to the front of the store and turned him over onto his stomach, the video shows.
The officer in the NYPD vest continued to kick and pressed his foot onto the back of the man’s leg as the other shouted: “Roll over!”
The woman who recorded the video, Abelee Moran, began shouting at both officers, saying, “Y’all violating the First Amendment for no reason.”
One of the officers responded, “You can’t resist arrest,” while he was draped over the man.
The man screamed out in pain, “My leg!”
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After several more minutes of getting handcuffs on the man and arguing with onlookers, police escorted him out of the store.
NYPD: The man ‘matched the description’
Officials said the officers were undercover to investigate complaints of drug sales in the Cobble Hill neighborhood, right across the street from the liquor store.
One of the cops “successfully purchased crack cocaine” on the street and arrested the suspect, according to the NYPD. Then the officers saw a man “who matched the description” of the dealer’s associate: “wearing a white shirt and green shorts,” an NYPD spokesperson said.
Following the violent arrest, investigators found that the man had no connection to the drug sale or the dealer, according to the NYPD. He was charged with resisting arrest and received an appearance ticket.
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NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said both officers were placed on modified duty and had their guns and shields removed.
“Yes, I have seen the video. I have been briefed on it, and this matter is under internal review by our Internal Affairs Bureau. And we’ll have more to say about it as that investigation unfolds, but I understand the community interest in it because it is an upsetting video,” Tisch said at an unrelated press conference on Wednesday.
Witness speaks out: ‘I was scared’
On Wednesday, Moran spoke about her experience in the liquor store.
“I was trying to put this on social media, anyone I can reach out to, you know?” Moran said. “What happened was not right, not fair.”
She said she wished she’d done more to help the man in the moment.
“Everyone around me is saying I’m a hero, but I felt like I’m so mad at myself that I didn’t throw my body against him to protect this man,” Moran said with a trembling voice.
“I was scared that they would beat me the way that they beat him.”
Spencer Gustafson is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered New York state and city news since 2023. See more of his work here.
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