Councilman David G. Greenfield today praised Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes for dropping all charges against Ehud Halevy, who was the victim of an incident of police brutality captured on surveillance video earlier this month. Halevy was confronted by NYPD officers from the 71st Precinct on the night of October 8th while he was sleeping inside the Alternative Learning Institute Young Adults Center in Crown Heights, with permission from the center’s director. During the encounter, Officer Luis A. Vega was clearly seen on the video assuming a fighter’s stance before knocking Halevy onto a couch with several punches. Officer Vega then continued to repeatedly punch Halevy, who was not fighting back or resisting. Following the incident, Halevy was charged with a felony count of assaulting a police officer and misdemeanors for trespassing, resisting arrest and obstruction. After the video came to light last week, Councilman Greenfield immediately called on the NYPD to fire both officers for using excessive force against Halevy.

“I am grateful that District Attorney Charles Hynes has done the right thing and dismissed the trumped up charges filed against Ehud Halevy, both for the sake of this innocent victim and to restore the community’s confidence in our criminal justice system. It was clear that the rogue officers involved in this outrageous incident only filed those charges in the first place to cover up their beating of an innocent and defenseless man that night. I shudder to think of what would have happened if this police brutality was not captured on surveillance tape. Once again, I am calling for these officers to be fired from the NYPD. We need to send a clear message that there is no place for bad cops in the world’s finest police department,” said Councilman David G. Greenfield.

(YWN Desk – NYC)