NYPD bodycam footage shows officer punching, dragging man off train
The NYPD and the Manhattan district attorney said Wednesday they are probing an incident caught on police bodycam footage that shows a man being punched and dragged off a No. 6 train by two cops who’d ordered him off the largely empty subway car for taking up more than one seat amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The incident involving straphanger Joseph Troiano, 30 — who was initially charged with felony assault by the DA’s office in the case — unfolded on May 25 just after midnight at the East 51st Street-Lexington Avenue station.
According to a Manhattan Criminal Court complaint, NYPD Officer Shimul Saha says that he saw Troiano “occupying more than one seat on the train” and when he asked him multiple times to step off the train, the man refused to do so.
The body-cam footage, released by the Legal Aid Society and published by The City — which reported that Troiano is homeless — first shows cops motioning for him to get off the train before the man is seen entering another train car.
“Step off the train, you’re holding up the train for everybody. Step off or I gotta’ drag you off,” one cop can be heard telling Troiano, who responds, “How am I holding up a train when I’m sitting on here going to Brooklyn,” according to the footage.
Saha, according to the complaint, claimed that when he attempted to remove Troiano from the train, “he began flailing his arms and kicking his legs, making it difficult to place him in handcuffs,” and said that Troiano fumed, “I am not getting off the f–king train.’”
The footage then shows Officer Adonis Long reach to move Troiano off the subway, prompting Troiano to swat him away and say, “Don’t touch me!”
Long again moves to grab him off the train and when Troiano refuses and tells him to “get off of me,” the cop can be seen in the footage punching Troiano in the face twice, knocking his glasses off.
As Troiano is then pulled off the train, he falls onto his back on the subway platform, the video shows.
According to the complaint, Saha says that he saw Troiano “shove” Long and “I observed the two grappling on the floor as Officer Long and I attempted to place handcuffs on the defendant.”
Saha says that he was informed by Long that during the incident Troiano “kicked his right hand,” causing swelling and pain to his knuckles, the complaint states.
“He informs me that because of the swelling he is unable to open and close his hand without experiencing pain,” Saha said in the complaint.
The body-cam footage shows the cops pushing Troiano up against the wall of the station as he pleads for help and asks “why are you hitting me.”
During the encounter, a sobbing and bloodied Troiano can be heard saying that he “can’t breathe” and that he was having a panic attack while being restrained on the ground before he was eventually transported by EMS to a hospital.
The NYPD charged Troiano with resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental administration, and he was hit with a local law violation, but Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance upgraded the charges to assault in the second-degree.
DA spokeswoman Caitlyn Fowles said Wednesday that Troiano was “charged with assault because the arresting officer reported an injury requiring medical attention subsequent to the arrest.”
The DA’s office is now moving to dismiss the assault charge following an investigation.
“After a thorough investigation, our prosecutor intended to offer the individual an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal at his next court appearance. The District Attorney was provided with the available footage last night and determined that our office will advance the case for this purpose, dismiss the assault charge, and offer an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal for the remaining misdemeanor charge,” Fowles said.
Fowles added that the DA is “continuing to review all aspects of this encounter, including any potential police misconduct.”
According to NYPD spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Frances O’Donnell, Troiano “attempted to strike an officer,” resisted arrest and “attempted to flee the location.”
O’Donnell added, “We are aware of the use of force incident, and it is under review.”
A warrant check conducted at the time of Troiano’s arrest revealed that he had three active warrants, according to O’Donnell.
During Troiano’s arraignment, prosecutors said in prepared remarks responded to the police with violence and that Troiano has an open misdemeanor assault case in warrant status in which he randomly attacked a woman who was pushing her 18-month-old child in a stroller.
The Legal Aid Society, which is representing Troiano, is calling for the firing of Saha and Long and previously called for the Manhattan DA to dismiss the charges against him “in the interest of justice.”
“The brutal attack on Joseph by these officers is both unconscionable and completely indefensible,” the Legal Aid Society said in a statement on its website.