The NYPD says James Blake was misidentified during an investigation into cell phones that were bought with fake credit cards.
Advertisement
Former tennis star James Blake, whose caught-on-camera takedown by a plainclothes New York City police officer prompted apologies from the mayor and police commissioner, said Saturday that the officer who wrongly arrested him should be fired.
The NYPD recently released surveillance video of Blake being slammed to the ground.
Police have said Blake was mistakenly identified by “a cooperating witness” as being involved in selling fraudulently purchased cellphones.
The Harvard-educated tennis star, who once ranked fourth in the world, was waiting outside of the Grand Hyatt New York Hotel on East 42nd Street for a auto to take him to the US Open when he said he was tackled, pinned to the ground and handcuffed.
A message left at a number listed for Frascatore, 38, wasn’t immediately returned. “No badge was ever shown”, Blake said.
But after he was hurt in a auto accident, doctors told him to stop playing baseball, said a childhood friend, speaking on the condition of anonymity, so he pursued a backup career as a police officer.
Blake said he plans to meet with the commissioner and mayor to discuss ways for the NYPD to change so he does not have to resort to a lawsuit.
Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch has defended Frascatore, saying the officer was professional and the arrest method proper. They said that allegations of excessive force would be investigated internally.
The officer has been placed on modified duty and stripped of his gun and badge pending an investigation. If Frascatore chooses to fight those charges, he would do so in a departmental trial in which he could face such punishments as a loss of vacation days and performance monitoring.
But extending courtesy to a public figure mistreated by the police is not enough…I am determined to use my voice to turn this unfortunate incident into a catalyst for change.
Advertisement
A police spokesman declined to comment on Blake’s remarks.
