‘Rambo’ cop tackled James Blake ‘like an NFL linebacker’
An undercover NYPD officer mistakenly tackled James Blake “like an NFL linebacker” during a botched arrest that left the retired tennis pro shaken up and “embarrassed,” the athlete and prosecutors said Tuesday.
“This case is not about mistaken identity. It’s about excessive police force,” prosecutor Jonathan Fogel said during opening statements in Officer James Frascatore’s administrative trial.
Frascatore is accused of barreling into Blake Sept. 9, 2015 outside the Grand Hyatt on East 42ndStreet after mistaking him for a credit-card fraudster.
“The respondent went from zero to 100, charging across the street like a one-man army, like he was Rambo, and he tackled Mr. Blake like an NFL linebacker,” said Fogel.
Blake, who was staying at the hotel to attend the US Open, said at no point did Frascatore or the four or five other cops that were involved that day identify themselves as police.
“To see someone running and actually split the doormen, I thought, ‘Oh ,that’s kind of weird,’” Blake, dressed in a dark blue suit and matching tie, testified. “As he started coming further and closer, I realized he was coming toward me. He grabbed me by the arm, pushed me, took me down, put his knee on me, told me to put my hands behind my back and don’t say a word, something to that effect. He put the cuffs on me.”
Blake recalled standing near the hotel for 10 to 15 minutes while handcuffed as the other officers chatted.
He testified that he heard one of the officers, who he believes was Frascatore, remark, “I think there’s something wrong here.”
“I implored them to take the ID out of my back pocket,” Blake testified, referring to his US Open card he had on him at the time. “This was embarrassing to me because we were right in front of the [United States Tennis Association] hotel and I’m a public figure.”
Blake – who was caught on surveillance video obtained by The Post calmly shaking hands and chatting with Frascatore shortly after being arrested – said he only reported the incident to police after speaking to his wife.
“What if this had happened to me?” Blake’s wife had asked him.
“That kind of woke me up because I was kind of in a daze, shaken up from the whole thing,” Blake recalled. “I don’t want this to happen to someone I care about or someone I love.”
Meanwhile, Frascatore’s attorney Stephen Worth said the athlete and cop were “both victims of circumstances beyond their control.”
Worth noted that Blake bore an “uncanny resemblance” to the suspect Frascatore was seeking – and maintained he took Blake down gently.
If found guilty of misconduct, Frascatore, who is on modified duty pending the trial, risks losing 10 days of paid vacation.