STATEN ISLAND (PIX11) — An NYPD officer was suspended without pay after he was caught on video pummeling a girl while responding to a Staten Island melee Tuesday, authorities said.
The cops were on duty in the area when an after-school fight broke out between several girls near Willowbrook Road and Forest Avenue at around 2:40 p.m., police said. A 14-year-old girl was arrested and a 12-year-old girl was given a juvenile report in connection to the incident, police said. The girls are sisters.
While taking the teen into custody, the girl allegedly tried to take the cop’s handcuffs and hit him before the cop unleashed a barrage of blows on the girl, according to the NYPD. She was treated and released at the hospital.
The cop was seen repeatedly punching a girl in the head while another officer tried to grab her as a mob intervened, an Instagram video of the incident showed. Meanwhile, the girl fought back as she was pushed around by the cops and bystanders, the video shows.
“I was not happy with what I saw in the video. This was an incident that happened off school grounds — a girl was being jumped,” Mayor Eric Adams said during an unrelated press conference. “The police commissioner swiftly suspended the officer that was involved.”
The NYPD said the cop, a 14-year veteran, was suspended for 30 days and the incident is under investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau.
