| Officer: | Zacarese, Lawrence |
|---|---|
| Complainant: | Black Male, 26 |
| Allegation: | Force: Physical force |
| CCRB Conclusion: | Unsubstantiated |
| Officer | Complainant | Allegation | CCRB Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zacarese, Lawrence | Black Male, 26 | Force: Physical force | Unsubstantiated |
Further details on conclusions.
[redacted] is a [redacted] year old black male who, at the time of the incident, was out with his friend [redacted] and brother [redacted] celebrating [redacted]'s birthday. [redacted]
He explained that he and his friend and his brother had been partying extensively, drinking an unremembered amount of alcohol since dinner at this mothers around 8:00 PM, as well as smoking marijuana, when they encountered the police at the intersection of 201st Street and Merdock Avenue. The lighting conditions were decent but not exemplary. The three young men were walking across 201st Street in a line, [redacted] in front, then [redacted] and finally [redacted]. A marked police car passed them with two uniformed officers in it but no one in [redacted]'s party ran from them. Suddenly, other uniformed officers ran around a civilian van that was parked on the corner. These officers began yelling for the three young men to get up against the van.
The two officers who ran around the van grabbed [redacted] and wrestled him to the ground. At least one officer came to their assistance. [redacted] wanted to cooperate but was hesitant to get on the ground because he was drunk and confused. He was finally wrestled down by the officers and handcuffed. One officer had a knee in his back. He tried to get a look at this officer but the officer punched him in the head whenever he tried to look back. This happened six times. The punches were awkward; it was as if a right-handed officer were punching him with his left hand. [redacted] called out, "that don't hurt" and also, "I'm down, why are you hitting me?" Every time he was punched, [redacted]'s face scraped the sidewalk on the other side. An officer was telling him, meanwhile, that he was lucky he wasn't shot. Eventually [redacted] was picked up and placed in a patrol car with two officers, one of whom may have been Hispanic. They were not the officers who first subdued him. In total, [redacted] observed five officers, all white with the one aforementioned exception. He noted that the...
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