A routine stop at a Brooklyn liquor store turned into a violent encounter that has now sparked a major legal battle against the New York Police Department. Timothy Brown, the man captured on viral video being beaten and wrongfully arrested by two NYPD detectives inside a Brooklyn liquor store, has filed a notice of claim signaling plans to sue the city for $100 million. Brown spoke publicly Tuesday, saying the April 14 incident left lasting physical and emotional damage.
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Brown, who works as a home health aide and security guard, said he had stopped to buy wine after work when plainclothes officers suddenly approached him. According to the filing, detectives grabbed and attacked him in front of stunned customers.
“What happened to me should not happen to anyone else. It was wrong and it was disgusting. My life will never be the same,” Brown said.
At the press conference, Brown appeared with a cane, an arm brace, and a noticeable limp. He said the encounter has changed him permanently and described feeling “humiliated, disrespected and embarrassed.”
Police later acknowledged Brown was not the suspect they were seeking. Detectives had reportedly believed he matched the clothing description of a man involved in a crack cocaine purchase. No drugs or contraband were found on Brown, but he was still issued summonses for resisting arrest and obstruction. Those charges were later dismissed by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
Brown strongly denied police claims about resisting.
“I never resisted arrest not at all,” he said. “There was nothing I could do, I was being beating and battered.”
The legal notice alleges detectives failed to properly identify themselves and used excessive force for roughly eight minutes. Brown claims he was slammed into a glass display, dragged through shattered bottles, and left with head trauma, facial injuries, lacerations, bruising, and leg injuries.
The detectives involved, identified as Volkan Maden and Michael Algerio, are under internal investigation. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch previously called the footage upsetting, while city leaders and police union officials have sharply disagreed over the broader fallout.
