The NYPD is denying charges of police
brutality leveled by a Queens man who claims he was subjected to a senseless
beating earlier this month that was caught on tape.
The incident, which was caught on a surveillance video camera, happened July 11th at an apartment building in Flushing where 22-year-old Oscar Arzeno was staying.
The video shows Arzeno struggling to get into the building, but before he can get in he is confronted by several undercover police officers. On the videotape, up to five police officers can be seen knocking the young man to the ground, before eventually handcuffing him and putting him into a police car.
Arzeno's attorneys say their client has no idea why the men in plain clothes chased him down and beat him.
"Police officers did not identify themselves. Our client was running away from a person who he did know that just attacked him," said Arzeno's criminal attorney Garbiel Tapalaga.
However, the Queens District Attorney’s office says Arzeno was subdued by police because he ran from officers who were attempting to arrest him for selling cocaine to an undercover police officer on school grounds earlier that day.
Arzeno's attorneys say their client suffered a fractured jaw when one of the police officers stepped on the man’s face.
"From what I see from the video, he stands on my clients head and is actually off the ground at some point jumping up and down," says Tapalaga. "You know my client is punched in the head, punched across the body, he's being assaulted from all angles."
Arzeno spent a few days in the hospital following the incident in question. He was then transferred to jail, where he was charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school, and resisting arrest.
He was released from jail Monday on $10,000 bond.
Arzeno's attorneys say while their client has had some past run-in's with police he is really just a hard working student.
"[He has] no criminal convictions. He's really a decent, gentle human being," says Tapalaga. "He's actually enrolled as a criminal justice major, I believe, at Catherine Gibbs school."
Arzeno's attorneys wouldn't discuss the criminal charges with NY1, but they did say they are hoping the officers involved in this case are disciplined, adding that client their may pursue legal action again them.
“Out client’s rights have been brutally violated, and we’re going to prosecute his claim to the fullest extent possible and we will take it,” said attorney Jonathan Goidel. “
The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating the incident.
The incident, which was caught on a surveillance video camera, happened July 11th at an apartment building in Flushing where 22-year-old Oscar Arzeno was staying.
The video shows Arzeno struggling to get into the building, but before he can get in he is confronted by several undercover police officers. On the videotape, up to five police officers can be seen knocking the young man to the ground, before eventually handcuffing him and putting him into a police car.
Arzeno's attorneys say their client has no idea why the men in plain clothes chased him down and beat him.
"Police officers did not identify themselves. Our client was running away from a person who he did know that just attacked him," said Arzeno's criminal attorney Garbiel Tapalaga.
However, the Queens District Attorney’s office says Arzeno was subdued by police because he ran from officers who were attempting to arrest him for selling cocaine to an undercover police officer on school grounds earlier that day.
Arzeno's attorneys say their client suffered a fractured jaw when one of the police officers stepped on the man’s face.
"From what I see from the video, he stands on my clients head and is actually off the ground at some point jumping up and down," says Tapalaga. "You know my client is punched in the head, punched across the body, he's being assaulted from all angles."
Arzeno spent a few days in the hospital following the incident in question. He was then transferred to jail, where he was charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school, and resisting arrest.
He was released from jail Monday on $10,000 bond.
Arzeno's attorneys say while their client has had some past run-in's with police he is really just a hard working student.
"[He has] no criminal convictions. He's really a decent, gentle human being," says Tapalaga. "He's actually enrolled as a criminal justice major, I believe, at Catherine Gibbs school."
Arzeno's attorneys wouldn't discuss the criminal charges with NY1, but they did say they are hoping the officers involved in this case are disciplined, adding that client their may pursue legal action again them.
“Out client’s rights have been brutally violated, and we’re going to prosecute his claim to the fullest extent possible and we will take it,” said attorney Jonathan Goidel. “
The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating the incident.