In July, two Fire Department, City of New York Emergency Medical Technicians intervened to stop four police officers from beating a mentally ill patient who was handcuffed on a stretcher.
A report obtained by the New York Daily News details the July 20 event that injured the handcuffed man.
The emotionally disturbed patient was punched multiple times in the face by the cops according to FDNY documents obtained by The News. The cops only stopped when the EMTs bodily intervened, the report said.
The violence broke out when the patient spit at the Emergency Service Unit officers and swore at them. The officers responded by hitting him in the face, hauling him off the stretcher to the ground and then tossing him back on the stretcher, the EMTs said in written statements submitted to the FDNY.
Two EMTs were called to the scene at Brooklyn’s 67th Precinct station house to bring the patient to a nearby hospital.
ESU arrived to restrain the man for transport. He was combative and banging his head against the wall, reports said.
“Pt. came out of the cell in cuffs. Pt. became combative with PD and (was) put on our stretcher,” wrote one EMT in the Unusual Occurrence Report filed with FDNY brass.
“Pt. was struck in the face by an officer … pt. spit in the face of an officer, whereupon the officer punched the pt. in the face multiple times,” the report said.
When the patient spit at the cop again, more cops started beating him, the EMT said.
“Three cops began to punch the patient in the face, EMS (had) to get in the middle of it to intervene. Pt’s. wounds and injuries cleaned in the (ambulance),” the report said.
The account was backed up by the second EMT, who noted that the patient was brought out by ESU in “handcuffs and foot shackles.”
The patient sustained injuries to the face and head, the EMT wrote in the report. The two EMTs eventually turned the cops in to authorities, resulting in an investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau.
We’ll keep you updated with the latest in this case.
SOURCE: NYDailyNews | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
