The NYPD is investigating a violent apparent arrest in front of a Bronx bus stop on New Year's Eve morning. Video uploaded to Facebook shortly after 10:00 a.m. on December 31st shows a police officer beating and slapping a man in the head, drawing blood, as two other officers restrain and handcuff him on the ground.
The NYPD did not confirm the man's name, why police stopped him, or whether he had been arrested or charged. A spokesperson said only, "The matter is under internal review."
In the video, filmed from inside a bus across the street, a woman can be heard saying, "Why are you hitting him?" and "He hit him in his face" and, repeatedly, "His face is bleeding!"
The incident took place on East 149th Street between Cauldwell Avenue and Trinity Avenue, in front of a bus stop serving the Bronx 17 and 19 routes. The stop is adjacent to the NYCHA-run Moore Houses, in Mott Haven.
The uploader, Alexis Jasmin, could not immediately be reached. Her video opens with three officers, two male and one female, pinning a man to the ground. One of the male officers proceeds to punch, and then slap, the man in the head, while the other male officer puts him in handcuffs. Any words exchanged between offers and civilian aren't audible. As the bus pulls away, the man is being held against the side of the NYPD van.
Jasmin wrote on Facebook that the man had been in his car following an encounter with the police. She said the officers were "getting ready to pull off" when they changed course, exiting the van and approaching the man.
"Granted the man did stick his head out the window and say a few choice words," she wrote. "But please tell me why the cops got out the van, snatched him out of his car and proceeded to do this to him."
"This is exactly why i [sic] hate the police," she added. "His hands were already tied and he kept hitting the man in the face until bloody. RIDICULOUS!!"
We will update with additional information as we get it.
Additional reporting by Joshel Melgarejo.
