NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police officer suspended from duty after he was recorded Sunday putting a man in what the police commissioner said was a banned chokehold could face criminal charges for the second time in his career.
Queens prosecutors said Monday they’ve opened an investigation into Officer David Afanador‘s actions on the boardwalk at Rockaway Beach, adding that “there must be zero tolerance for police misconduct.”
In Sunday’s incident, in the wake of protests over George Floyd’s killing by police in Minneapolis, a video shot by one of the men involved in the altercation showed officers tackling a Black man and Afanador putting his arm around the man’s neck as he lay face down on the boardwalk.
“You had four officers engaged with three gentlemen on the boardwalk for probably 10 to 20 minutes exercising extreme restraint,” Shea said, testifying at a hearing on recent clashes between police officers and protesters.
Shea, however, defended officers seen on video driving their police department SUVs into a crowd, saying a preliminary internal investigation has concluded the officers were under siege and attempting to avoid harm.
