News 1 is reporting that Fitz Fullerton, the livery-cab driver who was stabbed through the mouth and chin while fighting with a knife-wielding assailant, was handcuffed at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., while receiving treatment for his injuries.
Fullerton was the victim of Maksim Gelman, who was in the middle of a 28-hour deadly rampage. Gelman forced his way into Fullerton's cab, making him drive through Brooklyn while threatening him with what he thought was a gun but was a knife. Fullerton stopped after a few minutes. He began fighting with the assailant and cut his hands while trying to take from Gelman what he thought was a gun but turned out to be a knife.
Gelman fled the car after realizing that he could not finish off Fullerton. Fullerton drove himself to Brookdale, where, he says, police handcuffed and shackled him to a bed because of a warrant from family court. He was stitched up; released from the hospital around 6:30 a.m.; taken to jail, where he spent seven hours; and then escorted home to take a shower. Fullerton says they took him home just long enough for him to shower, and then he was brought to the 61st Precinct to identify Gelman in a lineup.
"I believe I was treated like an animal," said Fullerton. Now Fullerton wants an apology and financial compensation from the New York City Police Department. His attorney, Eric Ward, says Fullerton is deciding whether to sue. The family-court warrant has been vacated.
Talk about things going from bad to worse. You fight off a crazy person in the middle of a rampage and are arrested instead of being thanked by the police. After being treated like a criminal, you help solve their case. It's hard out there for a brotha, indeed.
Read more at News 1.
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