{"id":268086,"date":"2026-06-16T01:02:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T01:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/268086\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T01:02:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T01:02:49","slug":"former-brooklyn-police-sergeant-sentenced-to-jail-for-assaulting-handcuffed-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/268086\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Brooklyn police sergeant sentenced to jail for assaulting handcuffed woman"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARMA, Ohio (WOIO) \u2014 A judge sentenced a former Brooklyn police sergeant to jail for assaulting a woman while she was handcuffed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a story 19 Investigates has been covering<\/a> since January.<\/p>\n

Judge Deanna O\u2019Donnell played the complete body camera video before announcing her sentence.<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynBrooklyn police sergeant gets jail time for punching restrained woman.(Brooklyn Police Department)<\/p>\n

Former Brooklyn Police Sergeant Paul Stein received the maximum sentence for misdemeanor assault \u2014 180 days in jail with 90 suspended. <\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Brooklyn police sergeant escorted out of courtroom after being found guilty of assaulting handcuffed woman.(WOIO)<\/p>\n

Judge O\u2019Donnell found him guilty for punching a woman last September.<\/p>\n

Stein expresses remorse<\/p>\n

Before sentencing, Stein expressed remorse, saying he regrets what he did. <\/p>\n

His attorney, Dominic Vitantonio, asked the judge for leniency, saying his client has already lost his law enforcement career and is now working as a plumber.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor someone like Paul Stein this is the most \u2014 and this isn\u2019t poor Paul Stein day, it\u2019s a reality \u2014 the most difficult day of his life,\u201d said Vitantonio.<\/p>\n

Judge O\u2019Donnell said she empathized with the stressful and demanding assignments associated with police work, but officers must be held to a higher standard.<\/p>\n

She said the sentencing decision was a difficult one to make.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, I struggle with this because I get it, Mr. Vitantonio, I ask myself like what would I have done?\u201d O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n

Victim too traumatized to attend<\/p>\n

The special prosecutor read a victim\u2019s statement before the court. <\/p>\n

The woman said she was too traumatized to show up and face her attacker.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will feel fear every time I encounter a police officer in my daily life because of what Officer Stein did to me,\u201d said Greg Gentile, Brooklyn special prosecutor, reading the victim\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

Details of the incident<\/p>\n

The incident happened Sept. 4 after police arrested the woman on an outstanding warrant for aggravated menacing. <\/p>\n

When she arrived at the station, her hands were cuffed behind her back.<\/p>\n

Officers said she was being belligerent and uncooperative, so they strapped her to a restraint chair. <\/p>\n

The woman was only wearing socks and can be heard on video hollering at Stein numerous times to get off her feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re hurting me, get off my feet!\u201d the woman said.<\/p>\n

When he didn\u2019t, she spit in his face. <\/p>\n

Video shows Stein delivering a series of five punches to her head.<\/p>\n

\"WomanWoman plans lawsuit, breaks silence after being punched by Brooklyn cop.(Brooklyn Police Department)<\/p>\n

Stein was then fired and found guilty of assault. <\/p>\n

The Brooklyn Police Department has declined to comment on this case.<\/p>\n

When Stein is released from jail, he will be on probation for 24 months. <\/p>\n

The woman has hired an attorney and plans to sue both Stein and the Brooklyn Police Department.<\/p>\n

Need an investigation? Contact 19 Investigates<\/a> with your request.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARMA, Ohio (WOIO) \u2014 A judge sentenced a former Brooklyn police sergeant to jail for assaulting a woman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[49078,98,100,99,79455,49080,49081,103555,103554,9,24,49079,63,28516,103553,103526,49086,49077],"class_list":["post-268086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-19-investigates","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-police-assault","tag-cleveland-investigation","tag-cleveland-investigations","tag-former-police-sergeant-jail","tag-handcuffed-woman-assault","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news-investigation","tag-nyc","tag-ohio-news","tag-paul-stein-sentencing","tag-police-body-camera-footage","tag-reporter-mike-mason","tag-woio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}