NYPD Cop Suspended Over Apparent Beach Chokehold Had Prior Brutality Case

An NYPD officer removed from duty after he was recorded putting a man in what the police commissioner said was a banned chokehold once faced criminal charges alleging he pistol-whipped a teenage suspect and broke two of his teeth. The police department moved quickly to suspend officer David Afanador without pay after Sunday’s confrontation on the boardwalk at Rockaway Beach in Queens. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Monday the swift action was a sign of “unprecedented times.”