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By Face2Face Africa
Timothy Brown, the 46-year-old Brooklyn man who was repeatedly punched and kicked by two New York Police Department officers after he was wrongly identified as a suspect, has filed a $100 million federal lawsuit against New York City.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, the April 14 incident, which happened inside a Cobble Hill liquor store, was captured on video that went viral after it was circulated on social media.
Besides the city, the other defendants named in the lawsuit include the detectives linked to the incident and their supervisors, WABC reported. Brown is accusing the defendants of excessive force, false arrest, and malicious prosecution.
The two detectives involved in the incident were identified as Volkan Madden and Michael Algerio. Brown’s lawyers said the detectives were attached to the now-disbanded Brooklyn North Narcotics Unit.
During a previous press conference with his lawyers, Brown stated that he went to the liquor store after work to buy a bottle of wine when the two narcotics officers told him he was under arrest, the New York Post reported. A physical tussle later ensued, and the video of the incident showed the two officers repeatedly punching and kicking Brown.
In the aftermath of the incident, the NYPD said that the confrontation occurred in the neighborhood of Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, and the two officers were “engaged in a planned and supervised” undercover drug operation in the area, The Guardian reported. The NYPD also admitted that Brown was a wrongly identified suspect.
Police said that they were trying to locate a suspect linked to a drug deal that took place earlier that day, and Brown “matched the description” of that suspect. Police, however, said they “later determined” that Brown, who was repeatedly kicked and punched by the officers, “was not involved in the drug sale.”
Brown suffered a broken nose, a scalp hematoma, and a knee injury that had to be stitched, per WABC. Brown’s lawyers also said he suffered arm and wrist injuries as well as post-traumatic stress disorder. The 46-year-old is still being treated and uses a cane to walk.
“I’m still in pain, certain areas of my body, and this is something we have to do. Justice has to be prevailed here. I want justice for what happened to me. It shouldn’t happen to nobody else what happened to me. It was disgusting, and it was wrong, and they have to be punished,” Brown said on Tuesday.
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Brown was initially arrested and charged with resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration. But the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office ultimately dismissed the charges after police confirmed Brown was not the intended target in the drug operation, and he was wrongly identified.
The NYPD launched an internal review after they received backlash over the incident. The actions the NYPD took after the review included the disbandment of the Brooklyn North narcotics team that carried out the drug operation and a review of its training methods. New York City police commissioner Jessica Tisch also said the “guns and shields” of the two detectives involved in the lawsuit had been “removed.”
The department, however, did not comment on the legal case and instead referred to the actions it took in the aftermath of the incident. But Brown’s attorneys noted that the detectives involved in the lawsuit had still not been held accountable.
“We are now seven months later, and we still have no accountability for the detectives in this case. They are still on the job. They’re still getting a salary. They’re still building up their pensions. So, this is why police need to be held accountable,” attorney Mina Malik said, per WABC.
Attorney Derek Sells said Brown is still experiencing physical and emotional trauma.
“Mr. Brown is also suffering from PTSD, and he’s being treated for that. This is something that has been life altering for him, and it’s something that we seek justice for,” Sells said.
Brown also called for the officers involved in the incident to be fired, adding that he hopes the lawsuit will serve as a deterrent to other law enforcement officials.
“These officers have to be punished for disorderly conduct and the wrongful arrests and hurting people, disrespecting people, and humiliating people for no reason. I’m an innocent man. It was wrong. I will never be the same,” Brown said.
Sells further noted that the video “supplies all the proof in the world of the wrongdoing that those detectives committed, and yet they are still getting paid.”