Complaint #201506936,
August 17, 2015

Officer: Knight, Keith
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Stop
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Command Discipline B)
NYPD Disposition: Command Discipline - A
Officer: Mejia, John
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Stop
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Charges)
Officer: Pysin, Leonid
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Stop
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Command Discipline B)
NYPD Disposition: Command Discipline - A
Officer: Pysin, Leonid
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Search (of person)
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Command Discipline B)
NYPD Disposition: No Disciplinary Action-DUP
Officer: Knight, Keith
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Threat of force (verbal or physical)
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Knight, Keith
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Discourtesy: Word
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Knight, Keith
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Search (of person)
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Command Discipline B)
NYPD Disposition: No Disciplinary Action-DUP
Officer: Mejia, John
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Search (of person)
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Charges)
Officer: Mejia, John
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Threat of force (verbal or physical)
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Mejia, John
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Charges)
Officer: Knight, Keith
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Formalized Training)
NYPD Disposition: No Disciplinary Action-DUP
Officer: Mejia, John
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Force: Handcuffs too tight
CCRB Conclusion: Substantiated (Charges)
Officer: Mejia, John
Complainant: Black Male, 49
Allegation: Discourtesy: Word
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer Complainant Allegation CCRB Conclusion
Knight, Keith Black Male, 49 Abuse of Authority: Stop Substantiated (Command Discipline B)
NYPD Disposition: Command Discipline - A
Mejia, John Black Male, 49 Abuse of Authority: Stop Substantiated (Charges)
Pysin, Leonid Black Male, 49 Abuse of Authority: Stop Substantiated (Command Discipline B)
NYPD Disposition: Command Discipline - A
Pysin, Leonid Black Male, 49 Abuse of Authority: Search (of person) Substantiated (Command Discipline B)
NYPD Disposition: No Disciplinary Action-DUP
Knight, Keith Black Male, 49 Abuse of Authority: Threat of force (verbal or physical) Unsubstantiated
Knight, Keith Black Male, 49 Discourtesy: Word Unsubstantiated
Knight, Keith Black Male, 49 Abuse of Authority: Search (of person) Substantiated (Command Discipline B)
NYPD Disposition: No Disciplinary Action-DUP
Mejia, John Black Male, 49 Abuse of Authority: Search (of person) Substantiated (Charges)
Mejia, John Black Male, 49 Abuse of Authority: Threat of force (verbal or physical) Unsubstantiated
Mejia, John Black Male, 49 Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest Substantiated (Charges)
Knight, Keith Black Male, 49 Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest Substantiated (Formalized Training)
NYPD Disposition: No Disciplinary Action-DUP
Mejia, John Black Male, 49 Force: Handcuffs too tight Substantiated (Charges)
Mejia, John Black Male, 49 Discourtesy: Word Unsubstantiated

Conclusion Meanings:

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


Penalties

Knight, Keith
Command Discipline - A

Mejia, John
Forfeit vacation 20 days
Closed: Resolved by plea, May 29, 2018
APU Guilty
Forfeit vacation 10 days

Pysin, Leonid
Command Discipline - A

Summary

On August 17, 2015, at approximately 5:35 p.m., [redacted] was walking east on West 148th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Convent Avenue in Manhattan. [redacted] was stopped by Sgt. John Mejia, Det. Keith Knight, and Det. Leonid Pysin of Manhattan Borough Narcotics (Allegations A-C). [redacted] alleged the following: Sgt. Mejia tightly handcuffed [redacted] (Allegation D). The officers were very close to [redacted] when he was trying to explain that he was on his way to an appointment and did not have any drugs on him, and some spit accidentally exited his mouth and landed on the officers. Det. Knight said, "If you do that again, I'm going to knock your fucking teeth out" (Allegations E-F). Sgt. Mejia said, in reference to the spit, "You did it to me again! I'm going to fuck you up-that's the second time you did that" (Allegations H-I). Both Det. Knight and Sgt. Mejia told [redacted] to stop spitting, or else he would be arrested (Allegations G and J). Sgt. Mejia, Det. Knight, and Det. Pysin reached inside his pockets (Allegations K-M). [redacted] was not arrested or issued a summons. On the day following this incident, [redacted] went to the doctor to have his wrists examined, as he was still experiencing pain from the handcuffs. [redacted] was diagnosed with a fractured left wrist (Privileged Documents 1). Read report for details.


Details

Incident: August 17, 2015
Closed: January 7, 2016

Reason for contact: PD suspected C/V of violation/crime - street
Location: Street/highway
In NYPD 30th Precinct Manhattan
Outcome: No arrest made or summons issued