Complaint #200905542,
April 7, 2009

Summary

On April 7, 2009, at approximately 8:15pm, [redacted] was walking on East 119th Street towards 1st Avenue in Manhattan. [redacted] was walking towards a grocery store on the corner of East 121st Street. [redacted] was wearing jeans, a black New York Yankees hat, and a black jacket. [redacted] had two cell phones on him and was using one to speak with his son when he observed an unmarked champagne (tan) colored vehicle drive past him. He recognized the occupants of the vehicle as plainclothes officers. The vehicle passed by and drove for approximately 20 feet, which suggested to [redacted] that there was nothing wrong. [redacted] then turned and began running around the corner up towards East 120th Street and Pleasant Avenue. When [redacted] was asked why he began running he said, "It's a free country." [redacted] said that hypothetically, he could have been running back to his house because he forgot something. [redacted] felt that because the officers passed him he was free to run away. [redacted] was asked again why he began running and he said, "I felt like running."
[redacted] got to the corner of East 120th Street and Pleasant Avenue and stopped when he observed the unmarked vehicle waiting for him. [redacted] described his arresting officer, PO1, as a white male, 5'6", short black hair, stocky, in his 30's, clean shaven, who [redacted] said was "Fabriz" identified via investigation as Officer Thomas Fabrizi. He described PO2 as a Hispanic male, 6'0", shot black hair, in his late 20's, clean shaven, skinny, wearing a hat, identified via investigation as Officer Bladimir Falette. Both officers got out of the vehicle and began chasing [redacted]. [redacted] said he began running in circles on East 120th Street, with the officers chasing him for approximately five minutes. [redacted] realized he was going to be arrested, so he gave up and stopped in the street. [redacted] was in the middle of the street in front of 438 East 120th Street when Officer Fabrizi tackled him. Officer Fabrizi tackled [redacted] from... Read report for details.