SoylentNews

eof [soylentnews.org] writes:

The New York Times has posted surveillance video of the arrest of James Blake, [nytimes.com] a former tennis star. The article also contains information on past complaints about the arresting officer, James Frascatore.

Officer Frascatore’s history of excessive force complaints, including at least three filed against him with the Civilian Complaint Review Board in 2013, revealed a pattern of residents claiming they were detained without explanation and mistreated despite complying. It also led some lawyers and residents to criticize the Police Department for not punishing him before he was involved in another rough arrest.

Here is one example of a past incident.

Leroy Cline, a Queens resident, claimed that Officer Frascatore punched him in the face after the officer stopped him for a broken taillight, ignored his questions and tried to pull him out of his car in 2012, according to a memorandum his lawyer sent to the Queens district attorney’s office.

Mr. Cline was charged with assaulting a police officer. Officer Frascatore later said Mr. Cline bit him.

The memo quotes from medical records, reviewed by an expert witness, showing the officer’s cut on his hand was consistent with him punching Mr. Cline in the mouth.

Original Submission