NASSAU| A 19-year-old woman and her boyfriend were brutalized by plainclothes police officers who accused them of recording an altercation that happened at a nightclub off Delancy Street on Saturday night.
Eyewitnesses say a fight broke out inside 98 Degrees nightclub on Saturday night. The woman and her boyfriend, 28, who were innocent bystanders, left the club and witnessed a man attacking a patron on the outside around 10pm.
As they attempted to walk to their vehicle, the couple was accosted by plainclothes police officers who thought they had recorded the incident on their cell phones.
A video recorded by another patron shows a belligerent officer, who appears to be under the influence of alcohol, choking the teen girl and shoving her up against a car while shouting, “Give me that phone!”
Patrons did not realize that the men, who were armed with handguns, were police officers as the man never identified themselves as police.
The woman and her boyfriend attempted to run away but were chased to the end of the street by the gun-toting officers.
They were then stopped by a marked police vehicle that pulled up. The plainclothes officers then allegedly dragged the woman on the ground and choked her before handcuffing her. However, she was able to toss her cellphone to her friend before she was tackled. Another officer jumped on her boyfriend and handcuffed him even though the pair was not involved in the altercation.
According to eyewitnesses, the plainclothes officers still did not identify themselves as police and did not tell the couple why they were being arrested before throwing them into the marked police car and hauling them off to Central Police Station off Bay Street.
Oddly enough, the police officers who accosted the couple and arrested them did not bother to enter the police station. They simply turned them in and left. It is believed they did not enter the station because they had been drinking.
There, the couple was still not informed why they had been taken into custody and were not allowed to make a phone call.
The pair complained that they were in pain due to their injuries but were told they were being dramatic. The woman says the only thing she received was a Bandaid despite complaining of a swollen jaw and arm. The two were held from 10pm Saturday until Sunday at 6pm. Upon their release, they were ordered to report to the Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Pictures of their injuries show the woman’s bloodied hand and foot at the hands of power-hungry police.
Disgusted nightclub patrons who witnessed the incident are demanding that Police Commissioner Paul Rolle take action and discipline the disorderly officers who were armed while partying at the nightclub. However, Rolle has been known to cover up the indiscretions of police officers by sweeping them under the rug without referring the matters to the Complaints and Corruption Unit for a proper investigation.
