An off-duty NYPD officer was caught on camera pulling his gun on a group of bicyclists in another case of cop road rage in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village Monday.
However, responding officers allowed the cop to leave the scene, arresting one of the cyclists instead, accusing him of “lunging” at the off-duty cop with an eight-inch ice pick.
The video doesn’t show the cyclist lunging at the cop with an ice pick nor is there an even an ice pick even evident in the video.
In fact, police did not even seize an ice pick as evidence, claiming another cyclist rode off with it, according to ABC7.
What the video does show is a group of cyclists arguing with the cop while holding their smart phones out recording, telling him to “show us your badge,” which is when the cop turns around and walks inside a building to call 911.
Had there really been a cyclist lunging at him with an ice pick, the cop would have shot him dead, knowing he would have been able to justify it, even if it was caught on camera.
But it would be a little more difficult to do that to a man holding a phone, even if he can somehow convince a judge and jury that he was “lunging” with the phone.
The cop who pulled the gun has been identified as a sergeant, but his name was not released.
According to the New York Daily News:
Messenger Dejaune Jones, 19, was arrested, accused of punching the sergeant’s side-view mirror, kicking his front bumper and menacing him with what might have been an ice pick.
Aaron Lawrence, 22, who took the video and posted it to his Facebook page about 3:15 p.m., said he, Jones and two other messengers were riding on W. 10th St. near Greenwich Ave. when the cop’s vehicle nearly hit one of them.
“My friend kind of screamed at him as he’s riding off. . . . He stops his car, and he’s getting out of the car. As soon as he gets out of the car, I see a gun in his hand,” Lawrence said.
The sergeant started yelling, “Get on the floor, get on the floor!” according to Lawrence. That’s when he started filming.
“He doesn’t say he’s a cop. He doesn’t pull out a badge,” Lawrence said, adding the cop at one point lowered his gun and waved the cyclists off.
Police sources said the sergeant was retreating into a restaurant to call 911 because he felt threatened.
Jones was charged with criminal mischief, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing and harassment, issued a desk appearance ticket and released. He shook the sergeant’s hand and apologized on his way out, police sources said.
While the cop claimed Jones damaged his side-view mirror and threatened him with an ice pick, the cyclists told ABC7 the cop swerved into their space, which sparked the confrontation, leading to a nearby elementary school to be placed on lockdown.
View the original video here on Facebook.
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