The Bronx DA’s office previously announced that the police officers who beat 19-year-old Bronx resident Jateik Reed in January weren’t being investigated for committing a crime, despite the fact that authorities dropped the drug-related charges against Reed. That may change now that NY1 has obtained a surveillance tape that shows that police likely did not have reasonable suspicion to stop Reed, contradicting sworn police statements that Reed had bags of drugs that he threw on the ground.
“Even if you don’t have 20/20 vision. Even if you have some substantial clarity, you can see quite clear there was nothing, there were no bags in Jateik Reed’s hands,” Reed’s attorney, Michael Warren says. Retired NYPD captain John Eterno expressed doubt that the officers had enough reason to stop and frisk Reed.
“The officers would have to only go in their pockets if they had reasonable suspicion, if there was a weapon in there,” Eterno says. “And given what I’ve seen on the film I’m not sure they had that reasonable suspicion.”
The new video also shows that Reed did not throw a punch, as was alleged by officers, and a female officer is seen kicking Reed while he is handcuffed and in custody. “They were looking to protect themselves for assaulting this young man, appearing to brutalize him. And so there was an effort to me to cover up what happened,” Colleen Meenan, a lawyer and former NYPD sergeant says.
The officers are on modified duty while the NYPD continues to conduct its internal investigation. The DA’s office says that Reed won’t speak to them about pressing charges against the officers, but Warren notes that the video itself should suffice.
Here’s the initial footage of Reed being beaten by NYPD officers.