Charges were dismissed against a homeless man arrested after a beating from police officers that was caught on video, prosecutors said Monday.
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said he had decided to drop the charges against 21-year-old Ehud Halevy “after review of all available evidence.”
Halevy was arrested Oct. 8 inside a Jewish community center in Brooklyn on charges including assault, resisting arrest and trespassing.
The videotaped confrontation began after two officers responded to a call of a dispute between a security guard and Halevy inside the outreach center at the Aliya Institute in Crown Heights. It’s unclear what the dispute was about, but the synagogue has since said that Halevy was sleeping in a back room and had permission to be there.
In the silent video, the officers confront Halevy, shirtless and wearing sweatpants, and appear to order him to leave a room furnished with a couple of couches and a pool table. A long argument ensues before the officers start to try to handcuff him.
Halevy appears to push away one of the officers, who drops into a boxer’s stance and lands a hard right that knocks Halevy onto one of the couches. As Halevy continues to put up a struggle, the officer pummels him, and another officer appears to hit him with a baton before he’s finally subdued.
The officers are under investigation by the New York Police Department’s internal affairs unit and the district attorney’s office.
(AP)
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One Response
Well, Yippee doo! How magnanimous of them! (considering that all of the charges were fabricated, and they held him in Riker’s Island for four days.) Now he should sue them!