Warning: The video above contains profanity.
NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- The NYPD released new bodycam videos Thursday amid criticism of a wild arrest of an attempted murder suspect in Harlem this week in which a woman fell to the concrete after being struck by an officer.
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The NYPD said the altercation is under review after video spread widely on social media Wednesday and sparked a war of words between people condemning and defending the cop’s actions.
Mayor Eric Adams, who is a former NYPD officer, weighed in on the growing controversy Thursday to defend police, saying they showed “great restraint” as a “crowd came and attempted to disrupt the arrest.”
“The young lady came, smacked the police officer. The police officer responded,” the mayor said. “I think those officers on the scene showed great restraint, they did what the system called for. They didn’t turn off their body cameras. That’s why we have footage of what happened.”
“Now we’re going to do an investigation, we’re going to look at the video,” the mayor added. “If there’s need to retrain, if there’s need to do other things, we’re going to do that.”
In a lengthy statement Thursday attributed to Commissioner Keechant Sewell, the NYPD said officers from the 32nd Precinct were trying to take a man into custody on W. 136th Street shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday when a struggle ensued, resulting in a crowd forming around the cops.
The 22-year-old man police were trying to arrest was allegedly carrying an illegal Polymer80 “ghost gun” on his waistband. “The NYPD officers removed yet another illegal firearm – and the person brazen enough to carry it in public – from the streets of our city,” the NYPD said in its statement.
During the encounter, a woman who knows the man and is reportedly his girlfriend “began to interfere with the arrest, including striking one of the officers,” the NYPD continued. “That officer fended off that interference and struck the woman with an open hand.”
Video shows the woman quickly collapsing backwards to the sidewalk after being struck. She gets up with the help of officers moments later and is placed under arrest, according to the video.
Police said she “remained conscious, and was transported to an area hospital at her request.” She was arrested for obstructing governmental administration and released without bail, reportedly after Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg reduced the charges.
Two more women faced similar charges of interfering with the actions of police officers.
“This incident, including the conduct of the officer who used force, is under ongoing review by our Internal Affairs Bureau’s Force Group,” the NYPD said in its statement. “All police body-worn camera footage, as well as other video surveillance from the area and witness statements, are being gathered and reviewed.”
“While the NYPD is committed to the safety of all New Yorkers, we are also committed to transparency,” the department said as it expedited the release of the officers’ bodycam footage.
The incident not only sparked outrage online but also in its immediate aftermath, with someone at the scene telling the cop, “Why would you do that? That's a little girl! You're wilding...”
The detective involved had six complaints against him over about the past decade, two of them substantiated, according to the Civilian Complaint Review Board database.
The Detectives' Endowment Association defended the officer’s conduct, saying in a statement, in part, “Criminals in New York have grown accustomed to there being no consequences for their dangerous, illegal actions—but when you assault a New York City Detective in order to interfere with an arrest of a man armed with a gun there are repercussions.”
The union said it is exploring “a possible civil suit on behalf of our dedicated member against the woman who attacked him.”
The National Action Network, which is headquartered in Harlem and was founded by civil rights activist Al Sharpton, slammed the police department in a statement before a related event on Wednesday, saying the officer “brazenly punched an unarmed woman to the ground.”
The 22-year-old man who was arrested was charged with resisting arrest and gun and drug possession, according to the Daily News. He’s reportedly suspected of being involved in an attempted murder, but he hasn’t been charged in connection to that. He was ordered held on $300,000 bail.
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