Man beaten in wrongful arrest by cops in liquor store files claim against NYPD
A man who was seen on video being beaten and wrongfully arrested by two NYPD officers at a liquor store in Brooklyn has filed a notice saying he plans to sue the department over the incident.
Timothy Brown told reporters Tuesday that he felt "humiliated, disrespected and embarrassed" by the arrest and will never be the same after the April 14 incident.
Brown, a home health aide and security guard, was buying wine at the liquor store after work when he was suddenly approached by two plainclothes detectives who allegedly seized him and attacked him as other customers looked on in shock, according to the notice of claim that he filed with the city.
"What happened to me should not happen to anyone else. It was wrong and it was disgusting. My life will never be the same," Brown, who was seen with an apparent limp in his walk, holding a cane, and wearing an arm brace, said Tuesday.
The New York Police Department has not immediately commented on the notice, which seeks $100 million in punitive damages over several alleged claims including negligence, false arrest, assault and battery.
The incident was filmed by bystanders and the detectives were not wearing body cameras, according to the notice.
The notice states that NYPD policy requires officers to wear or activate body worn cameras during narcotics enforcement operations.
The NYPD claimed that the undercover detectives allegedly witnessed a narcotics purchase of crack cocaine and that the suspect was seen wearing the same clothes as Brown.
Police said there were no drugs or contraband found on Brown after his arrest, and that he was not the suspect they were looking for. However, the NYPD issued Brown a ticket for resisting arrest and obstruction of government administration.
The Brooklyn District Attorney's office ultimately dismissed the charges against Brown.
Brown contests the accusations that he resisted arrest.
"I never resisted arrest not at all," he said. "There was nothing I could do, I was being beating and battered."
The detectives did not identify themselves "adequately" when confronting Brown and used "gratuitous and excessive force," according to the notice.
The notice contends that Brown was beaten for eight minutes, "slammed into a glass display wall and shelving stocked with glass bottles, causing numerous bottles to shatter" and thrown and dragged across the floor "through broken glass."
Brown suffered "contusions, lacerations, a black eye, head and facial trauma and injuries to his leg," according to the notice that he filed.
The two detectives involved in the incident -- identified by the department as Volkan Maden and Michael Algerio -- are under internal NYPD investigation, had their badges and guns stripped, and are serving on modified duty, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Additionally, the narcotics module responsible for the incident has been disbanded, the supervising sergeant involved in the incident was placed on modified duty and six other detectives were reassigned, according to the notice. The NYPD has not confirmed these actions.
"We will have more to say about it as the investigation unfolds, but I understand the community's interest in it, because it is an upsetting video," Tisch told reporters during an unrelated news conference on April 15.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani echoed that sentiment in a social media post a day after the incident.
"The violence used by NYPD officers in this video is extremely disturbing and unacceptable. Officers should never treat a person this way," he said.
Detectives Endowment Association President Scott Munro, however, criticized the mayor's comments in a social media post on April 15 and called for more facts to come out.
"NYPD detectives put their lives on the line daily, doing the dangerous work politicians would never have the courage to do," he said.
Brown and his mother told reporters that they were disappointed that have not been contacted by the mayor or Tisch.
