The city has settled a lawsuit with a Brooklyn man who said a police chief falsely arrested him, threw him to the ground, and hit him in the face while filming an Occupy Wall Street protest, awarding him $55,000, the Post has learned.
Freelance reporter Joshua Boss, 26, said he was walking in a crosswalk near 7th Avenue and West 34th Street in Manhattan on Dec. 17, 2011 when Assistant Chief Thomas Purtell tackled him to the ground, hit him in the face, and put two plastic sets of handcuffs on so tightly that his hands turned blue.
Boss then said another officer then punched him in the face, while a third cop shouted, “Kick his ass, Tom!”
“It was very aggressive,” said lawyer Wylie Stecklow. “He’s such a high-ranking officer.”
He was then arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, and the case was dismissed. Boss suffered permanent nerve damage in his wrist and hands, according to the suit.
He filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court in November 2012.
The city decided to award the settlement in January, but is releasing the money this week.
Purtell commanded the Manhattan South patrol borough at the time of the incident, and is currently the head of the Organized Crime Control bureau.