Criminal charges have been quietly dropped against an Iraq War veteran who said cops beat him while he was handcuffed – the second time in recent weeks that an alleged police-brutality victim had the rap against him dismissed.
Army veteran Walter Harvin, 28, had been charged with assault and resisting arrest after a July run-in with cops in the elevator of a Manhattan apartment building where his mother lives.
The dismissal of his case comes three weeks after officials dropped attempted-assault, resisting-arrest and disorderly conduct charges against a cyclist who was viciously knocked off his bike by a cop during a Times Square protest.
In both cases, the emergence of video seems to have played a crucial role.
Harvin’s encounter with cops was captured by a surveillance video, which investigators watched before stripping an officer involved of his badge and gun and placing him on modified duty.
Harvin was discharged from the Army in 2004 for post-traumatic stress.
He has retained a lawyer, Adam Orlow.
Charges against Critical Mass cyclist Christopher Long, 29, were dropped after video was posted on YouTube that showed Long was viciously knocked off his bike by a cop during a Times Square demonstration.