

Harlem Cop Boxes Man Who Refuses Arrestby Gothamist

A Facebook video posted yesterday shows a Harlem street stop by two plainclothes officers turn into a boxing match after the cops refuse to say why they stopped the man and he refuses to be arrested. The fight took place on Frederick Douglass Boulevard between West 130th and West 131st streets in Harlem, though it's not clear when. The man who posted the video wrote this description to accompany it:

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

Another witness wrote this:

I seen them shut the doors of the ambulance in his mothers face then pushed her away from the ambulance before they drove away. That's the shit that hurt me more than anything! so please at least have the decency to say something that will inspire people or education them when dealing with situations like this.. other than showing them how organize angry people can be. my prayers go out to everyone's family.. my family.

(Cops on Thee Rant message board, of course, saw the incident in a different light.)

We have reached out to the man who posted the video, the police, the man arrested, and the witness for more information, and we will update this story if we hear back. We have also asked the NYPD if boxing with someone who refuses arrest is department protocol.