Complaint #200805475,
April 8, 2008

Summary

At approximately 9:25AM on April 8, 2008, [redacted] was entering the 14th Street/Union Square subway station at 15th Street and Park Avenue South in Manhattan when she observed five officers (four in-uniform, one in plainclothes) surrounding a Black male who was about 6'2" tall and weighed over 160 pounds. [redacted] stated in her original complaint that [redacted] was clean-shaven and lacked facial hair. The male, identified by the CCRB as [redacted] appeared to be restrained. [redacted] believed he was passive and posed no threat.
One of the uniformed officers, identified by the CCRB as PO Pedro Reyes, was handling a German shepherd that was barking at [redacted] from about two feet away. [redacted] did not hear PO Reyes issue the canine any commands, and felt that this gave the canine permission to intimidate [redacted] The officer in plainclothes, identified by the CCRB as PO Raymond Low, was yelling at [redacted] and stated, "I fucking told you I was a police officer." [redacted] described PO Low as a White male, about 5'9" tall and weighing approximately 150 pounds.
The officers escorted [redacted] into a police substation. [redacted] followed the officers but did not interact with any of them. She could see the officers surrounding [redacted] as he sat passively in a chair, but could not hear what was being said. She could see that the canine continued to bark at [redacted] A few minutes elapsed and [redacted] was led away.
In her original letter to the CCRB, [redacted] indicated that she was filing her complaint against "the use of a Canine Unit by officers to intimidate a (passive) person in custody." In her description of this incident in her letter, she stated that an officer, identified as PO Low by the CCRB, used "obscenities" towards [redacted] but she did not indicate what these obscenities were. Read report for details.