Internal affairs officers are investigating a caught-on-camera scuffle between cops and a man who allegedly attacked them during an arrest earlier this year.
About 30 seconds of footage from the bloody dust-up between officers and 27-year-old Darnell Simmons in a McDonald's in the Bronx on May 4 was posted to Instagram on Friday. In it, an officer can be seen wailing on the apparently subdued suspect as two other officers hold him against the tile floor of the Eastchester Road fast-food restaurant.
But authorities said that the footage posted Friday was cut out of a longer, five-minute video that showed Simmons resisting arrest before punching, kicking and biting officers. The onslaught left the officers with serious injuries; one had a broken nose and required facial surgery, while another had to undergo treatment for bite marks and a herniated disc.
The officers were attempting to arrest Simmons, 27, on a parole warrant and under suspicion of a series of burglaries in Manhattan and the Bronx, according to an NYPD spokesman. Simmons allegedly escaped before being handcuffed, then bit and kicked the arresting detective.
Simmons then allegedly bit a good Samaritan's arm and attacked a second officer, according to a criminal complaint. Simmons allegedly punched and kicked that officer several times, and the officer fell backward and his head on a counter and broke his nose.
The Instagram footage posted Friday picks up sometime after police were finally able bring Simmons to the floor, which was covered in spatters of blood. In the video, one of the detectives and a civilian can be seen holding the man down while a second cop tries to cuff him.
The officer with the handcuffs then can be seen kneeing Simmons in the head before punching him several times. At one point, that officer is seen cocking his fist behind his back before slugging the man in the face as onlookers yell out for officer not to hit the man.
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Simmons was treated for minor injuries at Jacobi Hospital after his arrest. The two other officers were also taken to the hospital for injuries including a broken nose, herniated disks, a torn ligament and stitches.
After the arrest, police said the altercation was referred to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, but the case was closed with no action.
The department's internal affairs bureau began investigating after the arrest, and the NYPD said it is continuing to review the case.
Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association, said in a statement, "The short video clip does not tell the real story. The entire seven-minute video captures what the cops really had to deal with to overcome this guy's violent resistance and spells out necessary force to me."
Information on an attorney who could comment on Simmons' behalf wasn't immediately available. He was charged with several crimes including assault on a police officer and burglary and has pleaded "not guilty."
He has prior convictions for burglary and theft, and authorities said he never filed a excessive force complaint.
