New York City has settled a civil rights lawsuit filed by a man who claimed he was viciously beaten by NYPD officers.
Jateik Reed and the city settled the suit stemming from an arrest on Jan. 26, 2012, for $614,500. A spokesman for the city law department said the settlement was in the city’s best interest.
Reed's attorney said this week that "officers lied about the incident and what happened later at the precinct."
Reed was 19 when he and two friends were illegally stopped and frisked by officers in the 42nd precinct. Cellphone and surveillance video from the encounter showed officers throwing reed to the ground and repeatedly striking him with batons; some officers kicked him.
Reed, now 24, claimed he was also beaten in an NYPD van and at the precinct.
He was accused of drug possession, assault and other crimes, but the charges were later dismissed.
Members of Reed’s family claimed in the lawsuit they were also assaulted by police officers when they arrived at the 42nd precinct.
Reed and his family said they decided to speak out after they saw recent I-Team reports about allegations of police misconduct in the same precinct.
“Nothing’s changed,” Reed said. “It’s gotten worse.”
The NYPD said officers involved in the Reed case were disciplined but declined to provide specifics.
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The internal affairs bureau is actively investigating current allegations of false arrests and witness intimidation in the 42nd precinct.
One of the officers named in Reed's suit, David Terrell, was placed on modified duty in the Manhattan court system earlier this week.
The specific reason he was stripped of his badge and gun weren't revealed, but the officer had been seen on cellphone video playing dice on a street corner in what one man said was a gamble for his own freedom.
Last week, the I-Team reported that the DA’s office had dismissed murder cases against two men in the 42nd precinct who had been held in jail for nearly three years awaiting trial.
Multiple teenagers have also told the I-Team they were pressured to lie in criminal cases and threatened with beatings.
