Complaint #202002304,
March 20, 2020

Summary

On March 20, 2020, at approximately 7:50 p.m., at the intersection of [redacted] in the Bronx, [redacted] who was leaving a schoolyard at that location, saw three officers, PO Jose Mercedes, PO Anthony Perlmutter, and Sgt. Michael Bowman, all of the 44th Precinct (PO Mercedes and PO Perlmutter have since been transferred to the 44th Precinct Detective Squad, and Sgt. Bowman has been promoted to Lieutenant and transferred to the 40th Precinct) allegedly speaking with the driver of a stopped car (Allegations A, B, and C: Abuse of Authority - Vehicle Stop, [redacted] went back into the schoolyard and approached a group of approximately 30 of his friends After talking to his friends, [redacted] started to walk back to the exit, when PO Mercedes ran up to him and allegedly told him to stop (Allegation D: Abuse of Authority – Stop, [redacted] PO Mercedes then allegedly patted [redacted] around his stomach, chest, arms, and legs (Allegation E: Abuse of Authority – Frisk, [redacted] and put his hands into both of [redacted] s front jacket pockets (Allegation F: Abuse of Authority – Search (of person), [redacted] When PO Mercedes did not recover anything, he told [redacted] that he could leave, but [redacted] did not leave and instead started cursing at PO Mercedes. PO Mercedes then allegedly pushed [redacted] by the chest up against a fence (Allegation G: Force – Physical force, [redacted] and moved his arm up to [redacted] s neck to hold him back against the fence (Allegation H: Force – Chokehold, [redacted] which made it difficult for [redacted] to breathe (Allegation I: Force – Restricted Breathing, [redacted] At the same time, PO Perlmutter restrained one of [redacted] s arms (Allegation J: Force – Physical Force, [redacted] PO Mercedes released his grip on [redacted] allegedly pushed him back toward the fence (subsumed under Allegation G) and slapped [redacted] across his face with his hand (Allegation K: Force – Physical Force, [redacted] PO Mercedes, PO Perlmutter, and Sgt. Bowman then all started to walk... Read report for details.