Did MTA Officers Beat Down Cartwheeler?

Photo of cartwheeler on the Brooklyn Bridge via mis3u's flickr

The MTA officers do not like gymnastics. Consider that your warning. One man, Jesse Archer, was recently walking through a nearly empty Grand Central at 1:30 a.m., on his way home from a birthday party at the Grace Hotel, when he decided to do a cartwheel. He reports back:

"The police called me over, and gave me a ticket for 'disorderly conduct.' It was so unbelievable, and I let them know it. But when they were done issuing me the citation, I start walking toward my friend Stace who was waiting nearby. Facing him, not the cops, I utter an expletive about the cops, and next thing I know I'm being tackled by several policemen from behind.
The cops wrench my wrist back, handcuff me, and one of them has my head and is pounding it into the cold hard cement. I was not resisting, I was not fighting. I didn't even see them coming. They were simply going to teach this faggot a lesson! While my brains are being dashed, all I can think (besides, this shouldn't be happening!) was that this kind of injury is exactly how Natasha Richardson died."

He goes on to say that he eventually blacked out from the beating, and woke up in his underwear in a jail cell. By 3:30 a.m. he was let go, with two summonses and a piece of paper saying he needed hospital treatment but refused. He suffered cuts on his face, bruising on both sides of his head, ears, and wrist. Allegedly he's being helped out by Christine Quinn's office, and he tells us he is attempting to get surveillance footage. We've contacted Quinn's office and the MTA for their comment on the incident.

UPDATE: The MTA's press secretary, Jeremy Soffin, tells us: "Mr. Archer was issued two summonses for disorderly conduct early on the morning of October 3, after he was found lying on the floor of Grand Central Terminal by MTA Police. Our records and video footage show that he was held in detention for approximately 30 minutes, during which time he was fully clothed and not mistreated. We continue to investigate his claims."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in News on October 7, 2009 4:05 PM

Comments [rss]

hubcap

fuck da poh-lease

Amanda Harletsch

NYC the home of bully bruts!

ProcedureTurn

These hipsters. they ruined a good city.

ozik

Eww. That means his hands touched the FLOOR!

Chillinoncentral

effin cops!

(oops)

NannyState

Moral of the story: only do cartwheels when nobody's looking -like the rest of us.

Potty Boy

It's beat "up", not beat "down". And you give someone a "beating", not a "beatdown". Drives me f***ing nuts.

anti-lib

who does Cartwheels in penn station what about all the other riders that don't want to deal with this guys non-sense.. good job MTA police

rhonda718

anti-basicreadingcomprehension- Nobody does cartwheels in Penn Station.

anti-lib

you need to read the story

nurserachet

Shit. I just taught my friend's daughter how to do cartwheels. What have I DONE?

Smitty025

I find this strange, because all that the MTA police in Penn station ever do is talk to hot girls, talk to each other, or ride around in their little go-karts. I've seen people throw up on the floor right in front of them and they'll just tell the person they can't sleep there.

Dwayne Hoover

Given it's Grand Central, there will be video, from multiple angles. If there isn't, you can surely bet the MTA "lost it" on purpose.

Dan

Wasn't he talking to a friend? Where is the friend's witness testimony?

Also it's Grand Central Station. There are cameras all over the place. Chances are there is video footage to either condemn or exonerate the officers.

Too many unknowns to craft an informed opinion on this. Not that it has stopped people from making snap judgments on the story either way.

thefacts

Agreed. It is simply amazing that just about every commenter here immediately falls for the perp's account. I'm not saying it isn't correct, but if it is printed, so many people believe it. Does no one bother to analyze any longer?

That is more scary than the obsessive fears voiced here of a police state.

The next time they are being robbed, they should call a cartwheeler for assistance.

thefacts

Perhaps the cartwheeler was drunk and obnoxious. Who attempts cartwheels in public? A drunk would.

He was coming from a party in a hotel at 1:30 am., then he 'blacks out' and wakes up in a jail cell? Sounds suspicious. Excess liquor causes blackouts. On 'Cops', you see all those trashy people sobering up in a holding cell, and then saying, "What'd I do wrong, officer"?

But the MTA cops are notoriously jerky, no comparison to NYPD. I was attacked by NYPD in Grand Central once at 6 pm during rush hour, but we were preparing for a riot.

I didn't whine like this guy.

rcltrh

So now our taxes or MTA fares will go up again because those thugs masquerading as pigs will be sued in court and lose and the guy will win a nice big settlement (rightly deserved if these pigs really did this to him). It's time to take back New York. Get a Mayor in the office who actually cares about the people and shows the higher ups in the NYPD and the MTA/PD the freaking door. There are some good NYPD officers out there, and the two of them can be seen every now and then actually helping someone.

henryhamilton

"the cops called me over" You should have taken off. Running. Not cartwheeling. I'm sure thats what the cops expected.

ribaldry

It sounds like we're not getting the whole cartwheel story. Most cops would give you a warning before giving you a disorderly. I'm sure the cartwheeler was drunk or mouthing off or doing something in conjunction to his cartwheel.

areader

A police officer abusing his authority is pretty generally viewed as inappropriate. Likewise, a civilian not assigning a police officer due respect should probably also be viewed as inappropriate.

Surely it would have been smarter, upon getting fined for doing a cartwheel, to control ones tongue and address the issue in a more meaningful and constructive way. Perhaps before by fighting the fine in court.