Complaint #201412579,
December 22, 2014

Officer: Santiago, Avidan
Complainant: Male
Allegation: Discourtesy: Word
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Command Discipline A)
Officer: Santiago, Avidan
Complainant: Male
Allegation: Force: Pepper spray
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer Complainant Allegation CCRB Conclusion
Santiago, Avidan Male Discourtesy: Word Substantiated (Command Discipline A)
Santiago, Avidan Male Force: Pepper spray Exonerated

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.
'Substantiated': The misconduct occurred and it violated the rules. The NYPD has discretion over what, if any, discipline is imposed.

Further details on conclusions.


Penalty

Santiago, Avidan
Command Discipline - A

Summary

On December 22, 2014, at approximately 7:10 p.m., [redacted] a taxi driver, called 911 to report that four unidentified men he had driven to Mount Horeb Baptist Church, located at 109-20 34th Avenue in Queens, had not paid their fare. PO Kristian Beauvoir, PO Syed Eqbal, PO Avidan Santiago and PO David Walker responded to the scene.
While the officers, [redacted] and an unidentified male were discussing the matter of the unpaid fare on the church's landing in front of the entrance, [redacted] exited the church. [redacted] threw the fare money at [redacted] told him to get the "fuck" out of here and threatened to beat him up. After [redacted] left, [redacted] engaged in a verbal dispute with PO Santiago at which time PO Santiago repeatedly used profanity toward [redacted] (Allegation A). The interaction ended with PO Santiago pepper spraying [redacted] (Allegation B).
After [redacted] was pepper sprayed, an irate crowd exited the church and approached the four officers. The officers called for additional units, and Capt. Brian Hennessy arrived on the scene and instructed PO Santiago and PO Walker to leave. Read report for details.


Details

Incident: December 22, 2014
Received: December 23, 2014
Closed: May 22, 2015

Reason for contact: Report of other crime
Location: Other
In NYPD 115th Precinct Queens
Outcome: No arrest made or summons issued

Witness Officers: Kristian Beauvoir, Syed Eqbal, David Walker
Video evidence collected