The NYPD launched an investigation after a jarring video showed a woman get punched by a police officer she had pushed, with the blow sending her falling to the ground where she slammed her head on a sidewalk in Harlem.
The incident was recorded on cellphone video Tuesday, as police said officers were on West 136th Street near Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard to arrest a man for attempted murder. While the cops were there, at least three people who tried to interfere were also arrested, according to police.
The video appeared to show a group of officers walking down the sidewalk as the led the suspect away, with 19-year-old Tamani Crum seen going up to officers and pushing one of them. The detective immediately responded with a right hook to Crum's head, the video showed, which sent her flying backward. She fell to the ground, her head smacking against the sidewalk.
It’s video that Crum's mother can’t even bring herself to watch, livid over the incident. She said her daughter has bruises all over her body as a result of what happened.
"I get blown away to see this happen to my daughter, it’s so painful for a mother to see that," she exclusively told NBC New York. "They are just violating these kids' rights, it’s not right."
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Crum, a hairdresser, was arrested immediately after, and was charged with assaulting an officer, resisting arrest and obstruction. Her grandmother was so upset over what happened, she was shaking.
"He should never, never, never put his hands on her, or any female. He's wrong," Julia Crum said of the officer.
As the police department said they are investigating, NBC New York looked into the history of the officer who hit Crum. Detective Kendo Kinsey has had six complaints logged against him over the past 10 years, according to the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), which investigates police misconduct allegations by citizens. None of the claims were substantiated, however.
Crum's mother, meanwhile, has hired an attorney as the teen is expected to face a judge in lower Manhattan. She remained in police custody, as of Wednesday evening.
"This has to stop, and we are seeking full accountability in this action," attorney Jamie Santana Jr. said.
Community members were just as upset, as they gathered outside the 32nd precinct where Kinsey works, demanding he lose his job. Crum's mother cried outside the precinct.
"The question is: When did it become a tactic for crowd control to knock somebody else unconscious?" asked Rev. Stephan Marshall, of the National Action Network.
There has been major pushback from the president of the Detectives' Endowment Association, who told NBC New York "when you assault a New York City Detective in order to interfere with an arrest of a man armed with a gun there are repercussions.” The DEA also said they may sue Crum.
"I'm just so heartbroken. I just can't wait to get to court, until she gets back in my arms," her mother said.
