Investigation underway after video shows NYPD officer boxing with suspect in Harlem
WABC
By Carolina Leid
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The NYPD is investigating a videotaped confrontation between an officer and a suspect on the street, with authorities attempting to determine whether the use of force was justified.
Saykou George and his friend Jun Ice were walking along Frederick Douglas Boulevard near 131st Street in Harlem Wednesday afternoon when they were stopped by police. Jun Ice said something didn't feel right, so he started recording on his cell phone.
The 30-year-old George is seen in the video getting his wallet out for police, but within seconds, it escalated to pushing and shoving as George tried to walk away after the officer took his license and got out his handcuffs.
The officer punched George while his female partner called for backup, then the men seemingly started boxing, circling one another and throwing punches.
Minutes later, responding officers showed up and tackled the man to the ground.
"The cops instigated the whole situation," Jun Ice said. "We weren't arguing, we weren't fighting, we were just walking home. There was no reason for them to stop us."
Police say officers initially stopped George because they noticed he had a knife clipped to his pants pocket. Commissioner William Bratton said Internal Affairs is looking into the details surrounding the stop and arrest.
"My preliminary review, I saw nothing inappropriate with the officers' behavior," he said. "We will look at the partner, what she was doing during this process, and the responding officers, as we always do."
PBA president Pat Lynch released the following statement:
"This is a textbook example of an individual who was spotted with a weapon resisting arrest, attempting to walk away and the two police officers involved doing exactly what they must do to take the man into custody. Given the current atmosphere on the streets today, people mistakenly think that they have the right to resist arrest and that inevitably leads to confrontation and potential injury. The use of force in making an arrest is always ugly but is absolutely necessary and appropriate when the suspect resists. These two officers did their job, they did it appropriately and they are to be commended for a job well done."
But family members, including the suspect's mother, grandmother and cousin, told Eyewitness News this is clearly a case of police brutality.
"I watched the video," cousin Roosevelt Taylor said. "He didn't make a call to dispatch or say what he was stopped for. You're not telling me, I'm under arrest, but you pull out hand cuffs and tell me I have to go in the back of your car for what reason?"
Police expert and John Jay College Professor Maki Haverfeld reviewed the video.
"I think the police officers actually showed a lot of restraint," he said. "They didn't reach out for any impact techniques or tools."
George was released on his own recognizance following his arraignment on felony assault, obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest and possession of a knife worn outside of clothing.
Caught on camera: Street stop turns into boxing match between officer, suspect Posted 10:26 PM, July 2, 2015, by Jay Dow, Updated at 10:30pm, July 2, 2015
HARLEM — As is the case with most videotaped police-civilian encounters, what you see on the screen doesn’t always capture the entire story.
One such encounter was recorded Wednesday afternoon in Harlem on Fredrick Douglas Boulevard. It involved 30-year-old Saykou George, the man seen wearing a red shirt, a plainclothes NYPD officer in a gray shirt, and his partner.
George’s friend Jun Ice was there and hit record on his phone when he noticed the situation was escalating.
The NYPD has since confirmed that before Jun Ice began recording the street stop, officers found a knife on George. What’s still unclear, however, is what probable cause the officers had to search George in the first place.
It’s what happened later on in the encounter that made this incident different than others.
First, it was George’s refusal to wait in the officer’s vehicle while they ran his ID, followed by an all-out boxing match between George and the male officer.
George now faces several criminal charges for carrying what police say was a Gerber model knife, assaulting the officer, and resisting arrest.
Video of NYPD cop boxing with hostile suspect under review
By Ben Feuerherd
July 2, 2015 | 6:30pm
A knife-wielding man wasn’t going down without a fight — and an NYPD cop was there to give it to him.
A video released Thursday shows two plainclothes officers in Harlem trying to arrest Saykou George, who has two outstanding warrants and a record of assault.
But as George apparently resists arrest and tries to stalk off, one of the cops has to resort to putting up his fists to keep him from fleeing along Frederick Douglass Boulevard.
Meanwhile, the other officer, a woman, tries to grab the hulking George and slap cuffs on him, but he keeps resisting, according to the video.
Amid tense police-community relations — and with the bystander taking the video shouting over and over, “I got everything on camera” — the male cop keeps up the fight.
The woman calls for backup — and within 30 seconds, uniformed officers arrive to subdue George.
Commissioner Bill Bratton defended the officers, who made the bust on Wednesday.
“You have no right, no right under New York law, to resist arrest, which was going on, based on what I’m seeing in that video,” Bratton said.
“The Internal Affairs group will now be reviewing the video, as we always do. But in my preliminary review of that, I saw nothing inappropriate with the officers’ behavior.”
The eight-minute video begins with George, clad in a red shirt and shorts, handing his ID to the plainclothes officers on a sidewalk.
The two cops had seen him carrying the blade in plain sight, cops said, and approached him.
As the male officer holds the ID, George begins flailing his arms while demanding that the officer hand it back.
“You can’t do that to me. I gotta go take my medicine and stuff,” George shouts as onlookers level verbal abuse at the officers.
George keeps mouthing off and gets into a shoving match with the male officer while attempting to storm away.
The cop assumes a boxing-type stance and hits George, who continues to resist.
George raises his own fists and the two engage briefly in fisticuffs until the bust is made.
George, 30, was hit with charges that included assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and criminal possession of a weapon.
Thanks for sharing this with us Doc Saul, if a cop loses self-control and has fun inflicting injuries on darkskinned-citizens, you are usually pretty good at finding it.
I just hate the state of NY refuses to treat this like a, boxing match, as the state is in fact treating this like exactly what it is;
a rogue, racist cop losing self-control onto a citizen. And since it is likely because the citizen is, darkskinned, then I am going to make light of it with the investigative authority for this case.
Thanks again, Doc Saul!
And continue to share these stories with us as you get the inside track/get insight to them via your odible occupation in Law Enforcement.
In addition to carrying a weapon, Saykou George also had two outstanding warrants.
That could explain his eagerness to leave after officers had his ID.
Good observation, Doc Saul.
You think the state of NY will determine that those warrants were sufficient reason to inflict, assault & battery, onto a citizen who was not seeking nor attempting to initiate any violenc with police in any way shape nor fashion??
If that cop has been trained for tactical-fighting or martial arts, hopefully, that will allow the darkskinned-Black citizen there to be eligible for even more compensation thx to any disciplinary or punitive action against the cop, eh Doc Saul?
Don't you just love it, when rogue cops get exposed?!!!
Naturally, the investigation for this incident is ongoing. I would say it is probably not a great ideal to walk around with warrants while carrying a visible weapon. I found it odd that he would try to walk away after leaving his ID.
I would also say it is not a great notion to pull out the weapon that garnered the attention of police in the first place while resisting arrest. He could have lost his life.
If the evidence shows the officers in the wrong, it would dispel the notion that black officers are incapable of police abuse.
NYPD cop filmed boxing with hostile suspect on the streets of Harlem
10:39, 3 July 2015 By Anna Dubuis
The video of the violent confrontation is under review after a passerby posted it online claiming police brutality
An NYPD police officer was filmed in a punching match with a man he was trying to arrest on the streets of Harlem.
The video shows the plainclothed officer trying to arrest Saykou George, who has two outstanding warrants according to the New York Post .
But when George resists arrest, one cop assumes a boxing-like stance and starts throwing punches at him.
The duo continue to spar on the pavement until five more officers arrive and tackle the man to the floor.
George's friend Jun Iceaa who witnessed the incident said the officers had not said why they were making the arrest.
Boxing: The cop and suspect got into a sparring match in the street
Posting the video online on LiveLeak he wrote: "Police brutality, Me and my men Goodbrotha Saykou just came from the pizza shop walking home got stop by the cops.
"They didn't tell him why he got stop in the first place ,they ask for his ID, he gave it to them.. ya watch the rest of it and let me know if the stop or arrest was justify."
According to local news station WABC, the officer decided to arrest George after noticing a knife clipped to his pants pocket.
In the video, George is heard protesting saying: 'I didn't do nothing for nobody - I'm going to my home, that's where I'm about to go."
When the officer tells George he is under arrest, he says: "No y'all ain't arresting me for nothing".
Commissioner Bill Bratton defended the officers, saying: “You have no right, no right under New York law, to resist arrest, which was going on, based on what I’m seeing in that video.
“The Internal Affairs group will now be reviewing the video, as we always do. But in my preliminary review of that, I saw nothing inappropriate with the officers’ behaviour.”
George, 30, was hit with charges that included assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and criminal possession of a weapon.
Naturally, the investigation for this incident is ongoing. I would say it is probably not a great ideal to walk around with warrants while carrying a visible weapon. I found it odd that he would try to walk away after leaving his ID.
I would also say it is not a great notion to pull out the weapon that garnered the attention of police in the first place while resisting arrest. He could have lost his life.
If the evidence shows the officers in the wrong, it would dispel the notion that black officers are incapable of police abuse.
that's really too bad Doc Saul...that you felt it was best to not answer my, question, about your thoughts on if the state of NY could determine that a non-violent suspect deserved to be punched like that?
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
12:50 PM Jul 13