A plainclothes New York City police officer kicked his undercover colleague in the head with a force that reverberated through a video taken by a professional photographer who shot the footage after he happened upon the scene after stepping off a train, DNAinfo New York reports.
The plainclothes officer apparently mistook his colleague for a suspect, delivering the blow as soon as he walked up on the scene, the video obtained by the news site shows.
According to DNAinfo New York’s report, the unidentified officer responsible for the kick, who is from the 60th Precinct in Brooklyn, was stripped of his gun and badge and put on modified duty. The incident is under investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau as well as the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
The incident took place sometime in January, officials told the news site, inside Coney Island’s Stillwell Avenue station, but the footage has just been released.
A uniformed officer and an undercover officer started talking with a suspect before struggling with him to the ground in an attempt to arrest him. Suddenly, more officers (mostly in uniform) began to flood the station before one plainclothes officer in jeans, sweatshirt and boots walked in, looked down and delivered the kick to his colleague’s head.
The plainclothes kicker then began to join in on detaining the suspect before realizing the mistake he’d made and rubbing his colleague’s head. He then turned back to the accused fare beater, punching him several times in the face.
According to DNAinfo New York, the New York City Police Department has refused to identify the suspect, who pleaded guilty to a reduced charge. Authorities have since sealed the case.
Read more at DNAinfo New York.