As the Gothamist reported, the incident took place around 9:00 a.m. at the intersection of 225th Street and Broadway in Marble Hill, where officers from the 50th Precinct say they were responding to a teenager allegedly stealing a bicycle. On the scene, 16-year-old Alfred Burns allegedly "began to struggle with officers and pushed one officer to the ground causing the suspect to fall on top of the officer," an NYPD spokeswoman said Monday.
According to the NY Post, rushing to protect his partner, the other, burlier officer gets atop Burns, and proceeds to pummel him, landing a vicious series of hooks and jabs, as a third female officer cries out, "Stop resisting!"
We do not see what happened prior to the video starting. However, it is clear that the teen is not only resisting but appears to be wrestling with the other officer. He was also wanted for multiple crimes.
"No, don't hit him! Don't hit him!" a woman screams off camera as others plead with the teen to "Stop resisting."
As the struggle continues, one bystander steps in to help police. He grabs the teen's arm and begins pulling it back to allow the officer to place it in handcuffs. However, this does not appear to actually help and the massive cop continues to pound the teen's face.
"No, what are you doing? What did you do?" a bystander shrieks repeatedly as the officer pounds the defiant teen, the footage shows.
"No, that's extra!" quips the person filming the video.
After seeing enough of the officer pound the teen's face, another bystander steps in, this time to help the teen.
As the bystander grabs the officer's arm, the first bystander, who was helping the cop, also grabs the cops arm. Briefly, the two men stop the officer from hitting the teen as he then yells at the crowd to get back.
A female officer then joins in and shows the other two cops how to properly handcuff a teen and the incident was then resolved.
According to the Post, Burns, of Morrisania, was arrested and charged with assault, petit larceny, resisting arrest, criminal possession of stolen property and giving a fake name, cops said. He was taken to Lincoln Hospital for treatment and released, police said.
In spite of Burns having been accused of committing a crime which warranted his arrest, a police spokeswoman confirmed that melee "is under investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau."
According to the police, they say Burns was resisting because he was wanted in connection to another robbery from July.
What do you think? Was this officer's force justified? Were the onlookers justified for stepping in? Let us know in the comments below.
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