Complaint #200905022,
April 1, 2009

Summary

On April 1, 2009, at approximately 4:00pm, [redacted] and [redacted] were inside [redacted] in Brooklyn. [redacted] heard knocking on the door, and when he answered it, he observed Officers Alex Viera and Juan Gonzalez of the 77th Precinct standing outside. The officers informed him that they had received a report of a gun and possible injuries inside of the apartment. The officers asked him if they could search his apartment, and [redacted] refused, telling the officers they had no right to search his apartment without a warrant. After several minutes of discourse, the officers asked [redacted] and [redacted] to step outside of the apartment into the hallway. [redacted] was then placed in handcuffs and [redacted] was permitted to re-enter the apartment, standing close to the threshold of the door in sight of [redacted] Officer Gonzalez entered the apartment and began to question [redacted] about his father and the presence of a gun in the apartment (Allegation A). [redacted] told [redacted] several times that he did not have to answer any of the officer's questions. This caused Officer Viera to allegedly approach [redacted] and grab him with his hand around his neck and squeeze while simultaneously pushing his head backwards into the wall (Allegation B). Officer Viera and Officer Gonzalez then entered and looked inside of each of the apartment's rooms with their guns drawn (Allegation A, C, D). While [redacted] remained in the hallway, Officer Tyronne Howell and Officer Leonid Pysin of Public Service Area 2 arrived. Officer Howell entered the apartment briefly (Allegation A), before coming outside and leaving the scene with Officer Pysin. Shortly thereafter, Sergeant Mark Jablonski and Officer Craig Faulhaber of the 77th Precinct arrived. Sergeant Jablonski entered the apartment briefly (Allegation A), before exiting the apartment and releasing [redacted] from handcuffs. All four officers then left the scene, and on their way out of the building encountered [redacted] wrote down Sergeant Jablonski's and Officer... Read report for details.