A New York City police detective is under scrutiny after being accused of tackling and injuring a woman in a Brooklyn apartment because he thought she had drugs, when she really had just a lollipop, the New York Post reports.
In April 2013, Detective Sekou Bourne allegedly injured Jarnale Henry’s knee while in her apartment in Brooklyn’s East New York neighborhood during a sweep of the building for drug dealers.
“He pushed me down. … They knocked my lollipop to the ground. I fell on my leg, onto my whole right side,” Henry, who was not charged with any crime, told the Post after a hearing on Monday.
Bourne reportedly admitted that Henry only had a lollipop, but added that he believed that the woman was selling drugs based on her tone when she asked him, “What do you need?” when she came to her door.
“I thought it was a drug-related question. I thought she was asking me if I needed any drugs,” Bourne testified before the Civilian Complaint Review Board. “That’s when I identified myself as a police officer.”
The detective claimed that he did not tackle Henry and that she tripped. “She tripped and fell on her own. Then I got on top of her and began frisking her for my safety,” he said.
However, this is not the first time Bourne has been the subject of an investigation. According to the Post, Bourne is also under investigation for allegedly rendering a 17-year-old unconscious last summer because he thought the teen was smoking marijuana. During the altercation, one onlooker could be heard saying that the “weed” was “just a cigarette.”
Read more at the New York Post.