An NYPD officer was suspended for a month without pay after he was caught on video kicking a man who was being cuffed, sources told The Post on Wednesday.
The video was taken as police were trying to shut down the 5th Avenue Street Fair in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, around 6 p.m. Sunday. According to officers at the scene, a family selling fruit was asked to shut down so the street could reopen, but the vendors refused.
“We were told to shut down the vendors … this family said no, they wanted to keep selling even though the event was over and we needed to open the event,” said a police source who was at the scene.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Wednesday the kick was “unprovoked” — but the source argued that the suspect, Jonathan Daza, 22, was fighting back.
“The kid is clearly still fighting in the video and was kicked in the back, which is completely legal and doesn’t violate any procedure, yet because of everything going on across the country, they suspended him without pay or benefits just to please the public,” the source said.
“The poor [cop] has a 4-month-old kid.”
A total of five people were arrested in the melee, including Daza, who was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing government administration and harassment.
One officer was treated at the hospital for injuries to his ankle.
Additional reporting by Kirstan Conley