Complaint #202106291,
May 23, 2021

Summary

On May 23, 2021, at 5:45AM, [redacted] and his daughter's grandmother, [redacted] got into [redacted]'s vehicle outside of [redacted] in Brooklyn. He was double parked on the street and Lieutenant Timothy Brovakos and Police Officers Omar De La Rosa, Christopher Rodriguez, Aaquib Bhatti, and Mubbashar Zahid, all of the 71 Precinct, stopped [redacted] for this traffic violation (Allegation A: Abuse of Authority, [redacted] reversed and then pulled forward to crash into two vehicles. While issuing verbal commands to stop, PO De La Rosa, PO Rodriguez, and Lt. Brovakos pointed their guns at [redacted] (Allegations B-D: Force, [redacted]) PO De La Rosa, PO Rodriguez, and PO Zahid broke the windows of the car (Allegations E-G: Abuse of Authority, [redacted]). PO Zahid told [redacted] to get out of the "fucking" car (Allegation H: Discourtesy, [redacted]). Lt. Brovakos threatened to use pepper spray and mace against [redacted] (Allegations I: Abuse of Authority, [redacted]) and PO Zahid, PO De La Rosa, PO Rodriguez, and Lt. Brovakos used force against him (Allegations J-M: Force, [redacted]) when [redacted] continually would not get out the car. [redacted] alleged that officers beat him with batons and restricted his breathing (Allegations N and O: Force, [redacted]), called him a "fucking faggot" and "asshole" (Allegation P: Offensive Language, [redacted]) and an officer told him, "motherfucker, you should have opened your fucking door" (Allegation Q: Discourtesy, [redacted]). PO Bhatti told Lt. Brovakos that PO Bhatti observed pills inside [redacted]'s bag, but PO Bhatti could not determine how he discovered the pills (Allegation R: Abuse of Authority, [redacted]). Lt. Brovakos then searched the bag too (Allegation S: Abuse of Authority, [redacted]). Lt. Brovakos instructed PO Bhatti to both handcuff and arrest [redacted] during his investigation (Allegation T: Abuse of Authority, [redacted]). Lt. Brovakos searched the vehicle and [redacted]'s bag inside the vehicle (Allegation U: Abuse of Authority, [redacted]). Read report for details.