Viral video of a straphanger being Tased by NYPD officers on a subway for allegedly helping a fare beater needs to be “looked at carefully,” after “we did not end up with a deescalated situation,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.
The NYPD on Wednesday released body camera footage of events leading up to the July 6 arrest, after a clip of more than a half dozen officers surrounding the suspect and Tasing him went viral on social media.
Cops had confronted David Crowell, 29, for allegedly opening the gate to let someone in at the 116th Street No. 2 train station in Harlem, according to police.
Crowell had already boarded a train in the station when he was heard telling officers on the platform multiple times, “I paid,” according to footage released by the NYPD.
The suspect, who is black, then barked at cops to perform a sex act on him and said “f—k the police,” while lifting up his shirt to apparently reveal an anti-cop tattoo, footage showed.
“You bust that s—t, I’m going to run you. I promise you,” he said.
Subsequent viral footage of the confrontation showed a slew of officers with Tasers drawn entering multiple cars of the train to handcuff Crowell.
“Yo, I paid,” the suspect said, as he was restrained. When Crowell jostles with the cops, one of them is seen tasing him as other straphangers are heard shrieking in protest.
Crowell was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, disorderly conduct and harassment, the NYPD told The Post.
De Blasio, who beefed up police presence in the subway this spring amid a spike in crime, addressed the situation at a press conference Thursday.
“Look, first of all, I’ll state the obvious: fare evasion is not acceptable. Whether you do it yourself, or you help someone else, it’s not acceptable, and, you know, from the – what I understand of the NYPD body camera footage, the individual involved was very aggressive, and in some ways, even threatening towards police, that’s just not acceptable either,” the mayor said, according to a transcript provided by City Hall.
“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.”
Police union officials defended the use of the stun gun.
“On a daily basis, police officers are subjected to vile abuse by criminals who believe the anti-cop climate gives them a free pass. Insults alone don’t faze us, but when they cross over into threats of violence, we need to take action,” PBA President Pat Lynch said in a statement.
Last year, the state’s top prosecutor launched in an investigation into racial bias in fare evasion enforcement.
People of color accounted for almost 70 percent of summonses for fare evasion between October 2017 and June 2019, NYPD data showed.