Complaint #201809946,
November 21, 2018

Officer: Coughlan, Brian
Complainant: Female, 63
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Coughlan, Brian
Complainant: Female, 63
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Other
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Coughlan, Brian
Complainant: Female, 63
Allegation: Discourtesy: Gesture
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Coughlan, Brian
Complainant: Female, 63
Allegation: Discourtesy: Action
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer Complainant Allegation CCRB Conclusion
Coughlan, Brian Female, 63 Abuse of Authority: Threat of arrest Exonerated
Coughlan, Brian Female, 63 Abuse of Authority: Other Unsubstantiated
Coughlan, Brian Female, 63 Discourtesy: Gesture Unsubstantiated
Coughlan, Brian Female, 63 Discourtesy: Action 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 November 21st, 2018 at approximately 8:15pm, [redacted] was driving a yellow cab in Columbus Circle in Manhattan when a black vehicle swerved into her lane and cut her off. [redacted] honked her horn at the vehicle. At the red light at 62nd Street and Broadway, [redacted] pulled behind the black vehicle and activated her high beams to see the vehicle's license plate number. She then pulled next to the vehicle and told the male driver, identified as Sergeant Brian Coughlan of the Bomb Squad, "How do you drive like this? You could have killed us." Sgt. Coughlan then activated police lights and yelled into a microphone, "Pull over!" and "I will arrest you right now" (Allegation A: Abuse of Authority, exonerated). [redacted] pulled over just north of 62nd Street on Broadway then Sgt. Coughlan approached her vehicle and immediately opened her driver's side door. [redacted] decided to call 911 and when Sgt. Coughlan heard her on the phone with 911, he leaned towards [redacted] yelled that he was a sergeant, then, using his pointer finger, Sgt. Coughlan jabbed [redacted] in the shoulder (Allegation B: Discourtesy, unsubstantiated). Sgt. Coughlan then demanded her taxi license and stated, "I can take you off the street." (Allegation C: Abuse of Authority, unsubstantiated). Sgt. Coughlan then slammed her door (Allegation D: Discourtesy, unsubstantiated) and took her two licenses back to his police car. Read report for details.


Details

Incident: November 21, 2018
Received: November 29, 2018
Closed: May 14, 2019

Reason for contact: Moving violation
Location: Street/highway
In NYPD 20th Precinct Manhattan
Outcome: Moving violation summons issued

Witness Officers: Levy Garcia