By Suzie Ziegler
NEW YORK CITY — A witness video shows a chaotic scene: two NYPD officers trying to get a handcuffed suspect into their cruiser while surrounded by a shouting crowd.
According to the New York Post, officers were trying to disperse the crowd in a Bronx neighborhood earlier this month when it turned violent. The video shows the officers leading a struggling suspect to their cruiser, but the man refuses to get in, kicking out to stop himself from being placed in the car. About 30 seconds into the video, the man appears to put one of the officers in a headlock. The two men grapple for a few seconds before they both fall to the ground and the officer wrestles his way free. The suspect appears to punch the cop, still kneeling on the ground, before running off.
Throughout the altercation, a crowd surrounds the officers, shouting expletives.
“F–k him up! F–k him up!” said the unidentified man who filmed the encounter.
The video went viral Saturday after it was tweeted by the Sergeants Benevolent Association.
In the tweet, the union expressed its anger over a City Council bill, expected to be signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, that would make it a misdemeanor offense for cops to use any move that would restrict a suspect’s airflow by press on their neck, according to the New York Post.
”COREY JOHNSON your STUPID law is about to be signed by NYC STUPID Mayor it’s time you both take your community input & grab these perps yourself,” the tweet said.
Compressing breathing by sitting, kneeling or standing on a suspect’s chest or back would carry a penalty of up to a year in jail, the Post said.
The suspect in the video is known by NYPD, said the Post, and has been arrested 11 times for charges including gang assault, robbery and criminal possession of a firearm.
The suspect turned himself into the precinct later that week, with his lawyer present, and was released without charges pending further investigation, according to the Post.
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