Complaint #201408975,
August 28, 2014

Officer: Zanca, John
Complainant: Black Male, 33
Allegation: Force: Physical force
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Zanca, John
Complainant: Black Male, 33
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Stop
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Mcguire, James
Complainant: Black Male, 33
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Stop
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Kovall, Brian
Complainant: Black Male, 33
Allegation: Force: Physical force
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer Complainant Allegation CCRB Conclusion
Zanca, John Black Male, 33 Force: Physical force Exonerated
Zanca, John Black Male, 33 Abuse of Authority: Stop Exonerated
Mcguire, James Black Male, 33 Abuse of Authority: Stop Exonerated
Kovall, Brian Black Male, 33 Force: Physical force Unsubstantiated

Conclusion Meanings:

'Exonerated': or 'Within NYPD Guidelines' - The conduct occurred but did not violate the NYPD's own rules, which often give officers significant discretion.
'Unsubstantiated': or 'Unable to Determine' - The alleged conduct was investigated but could not determine both that the conduct occurred and that it broke the rules.

Further details on conclusions.


Summary

On August 28, 2014, at approximately 1:00 a.m., [redacted] arrived at the 'Sin City' strip club located at 2520 Park Avenue in the Bronx. [redacted] was wearing a gray t-shirt, cutoff jeans and a gray hat. He was not in possession of a weapon and did not have anything on him that could have been interpreted as a weapon. [redacted] had negative relations with the management of this club in the past and on the day of the incident, the bouncers informed him that he was still banned from entering. [redacted] decided to go inside the club anyways and remained for approximately two minutes, during which time he looked for the owner and then left.
While he was on Canal Place, a marked police vehicle drove down a cross street at either 139th or 140th Street and parked in the middle of the street. PO John Zanca and PO James McGuire, of the 40th Precinct, called [redacted] over to their vehicle. [redacted] complied, walked over, and asked what he did. PO Zanca replied by saying, "Stop moving. Stop moving. Put your hands on the car" (Allegations A and B). After [redacted] asked why he had to put his hands on the car, PO Zanca replied by saying, "Just put your hands on the car."
PO Zanca then grabbed or touched [redacted] on his back right side of his shirt. In response, [redacted] told him not to touch him and immediately began running. PO Zanca ran closely behind him and told [redacted] to stop. [redacted] stopped because he was tired. As PO Zanca approached [redacted] PO Zanca held his arm straight. PO Zanca hit [redacted] in the upper back and neck, which caused [redacted] to fall to the ground. PO Zanca then tackled [redacted] causing [redacted] to land on his right side. PO Zanca proceeded to straddle [redacted] so that he could not turn all the way to the ground and punched [redacted] in the face with a closed first approximately four to five times (Allegation C). [redacted] asked PO Zanca why he was hitting him as he was not resisting and there were nearby cameras. PO Zanca told him that he did not care and... Read report for details.


Details

Incident: August 28, 2014
Received: August 29, 2014
Closed: July 29, 2015

Reason for contact: PD suspected C/V of violation/crime - bldg
Location: Street/highway
In NYPD 40th Precinct Bronx
Outcome: Arrest - other violation/crime

Witness Officers: Chikei Ian, Brian Mccarthy