VIDEO: Black UWS dentist to sue after NYPD officers allegedly claim he broke into his office

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A Black dentist who says a pair of NYPD officers accused him of breaking into his Upper West Side office plans to sue New York City for putting him through the "terrifying" ordeal, according to a report.

Dentist Benjamin Shirley, 41, was taking out the trash at his office on the Upper West Side on March 9 when the two officers shined their flashlights through his door and asked him to show ID proving he worked at the location, the New York Post reported Tuesday, citing a notice of claim Shirley filed with the city comptroller's office.

"They were threatening to break in, they were threatening to break down the security equipment, they were threatening to break down the door and go inside," the dentist's attorney told the outlet.

In a recording of a 911 call Shirley placed during the incident, he tells the operator he is "being harassed by the cops here," the outlet reported. A surveillance camera in Shirley's office captured the entire incident.

"I'm pretty scared here. I'm working in my office and they shine the flashlight in my face," he said, according to the outlet. "They are asking me for my ID and I'm not doing anything…. I don't know if it's because I'm African American."

Shirley's attorney called the encounter "terrifying," the outlet reported. When two additional NYPD officers arrived at his office, he showed them his ID, and all four officers left, according to the outlet.

"What happened to him is common, and it shouldn't be," his attorney told the Post. "The idea that this could happen to a man going to his office because of his skin color is outrageous."

An NYPD spokesman told the outlet the department would review the suit once it is filed. The city's Law Department declined to provide a comment to the outlet.