The NYPD defended itself today against charges of police brutality on New Year’s Day as yet another video tape surfaced of cops beating a man in cuffs — insisting the suspect attacked the cops first.
The grainy security video, taken around 5 a.m. on Jan. 1, shows a man identified by his lawyer as Nagi Benson, 30, being punched and kicked by several police officers.
“There was a large fight, one officer was punched in the face and another officer was punched in the back of the head,” said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. “There were allegations that there was a use of excessive force and that is being investigated.”
This is the third accusation of police brutality to surface in the past two weeks. Three officers are currently on trial for sodomizing a Brooklyn man who was resisting arrest.
Last week, the department suspended two officers who were caught on video beating a handcuffed man in the Bronx.
The New Year’s Day beating, which lasted for several minutes in a back alley near 7 Albany Ave. in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, shows cops surrounding Benson for several minutes, landing several windup kicks and punches to his head and body.
Police say that it was Benson and his buddy Davial Rowe who started the donnybrook.
Cops say they were responding to a report of a woman being assaulted near the alley where the video was taken. When they tried to arrest a suspect, they were confronted by an unruly crowd of about 100 people, according to a criminal complaint.
Benson then allegedly punched Officer Gregory Clarke in the back of the head twice, the charge sheet says, and began flailing his arms and resisting arrest.
Rowe was also accused of punching Officer John Balestriere and Clarke in the back of the head.
Although the video only shows the struggle in the alley — not the confrontation on the street — Benson does not appear to be struggling on the video tape.
“The entire time that he’s on the video he doesn’t do anything that warrants the use of force,” said Fred Lichtmacher, Benson’s lawyer. He plans to sue the city for $5 million.
Davial Rowe, 23, can also be seen in the video being subdued by an officer and handcuffed on the ground. He’s asking for $1 million from the city for the beating.
Both Rowe and Benson were arrested and charged with assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and harassment.
Benson, who is unemployed, currently faces charges of public consumption of alcohol and criminal possession of marijuana, according to court records. Rowe has no pending charges.
Police union president Pat Lynch cautioned against drawing any conclusions from the video.
“The video doesn’t tell the whole story and is being expertly used by an attorney for his own and his client’s financial gain,” said Lynch. “What is sometimes misunderstood is that necessary force looks violent and is never pretty. Unfortunately, it must sometimes be applied by police in order to gain control of a violent situation or to arrest an uncooperative suspect.” The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office is also investigating the incident.