According to the NYPD, on July 6th at the 116th Street station in Harlem, bystanders captured the moment when police tased a black man on the subway for allowing another rider into the station for free.
The man was identified as 29-year-old David Crowell.
Police say that Crowell got into an altercation with authorities after opening an emergency gate to let another rider inside the station without paying.
While the individual Crowell let into the station went on to pay for his ride when confronted by officials, Crowell got into a heated dispute with the police.
According to Insider, the New York County Defender Services disputed NYPD’s story, claiming that Crowell had paid the other riders fare.
Several police officers are seen surrounding Crowell on the train in the video as a female officer tries to arrest him.
Shortly after, a male officer is seen pulling out his taser and stuns Crowell, as bystanders are heard screaming while he fell to the subway floor.
On Wednesday, the NYPD published bodycam footage of the encounter with Crowell that led to his arrest shortly after the video went viral.
The bodycam footage that they released showed Crowell shouting and flipping the officers the finger.
“You bust that s—, I’m going to run you. I promise you,” Crowell said.
Gothamist reports that Crowell has been charged with threats to the third-degree, second-degree harassment, resisting arrest, and second-degree obstruction of governmental administration.
“None of the charges related to the free entry of the other rider into the station,” said Gothamist. As of 2017, the Manhattan District Public Prosecutor has refused to prosecute such cases.
“The charges levied against Mr. Crowell are legally insufficient,” Bethany Bonsu, the attorney representing Crowell, said in a statement. “There was no reason for almost 10 NYPD officers to corner Mr. Crowell on the subway and tase him.”
Meanwhile, the NYPD issued a statement defending the officers’ actions.
“Insults alone don’t phase [sic] us, but when they cross over into threats of violence, we need to take action,” Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch said. “If this individual felt bold enough to threaten a group of uniformed cops, what is he going to do to those straphangers once the train doors close?”
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio responded to the footage on Thursday, stating that while fare evasion is “not acceptable,” the situation could have been de-escalated.
According to the New York Post, De Blasio said, “The goal is to deescalate. Clearly, here we did not end up with a deescalated situation. So, this needs to be looked at carefully to see what can be done differently going forward.”
