Second Man Says Cops Beat Him While Handcuffed in Bronx Bust
After video surfaced yesterday showing two NYPD officers beating a handcuffed man in the Bronx, a second man has come forward to say cops beat him even more viciously, after slapping the cuffs on him. Unfortunately for him, no one was there to videotape his beating. 22-year-old Louis Miranda and his uncle own the pit bull that police say pounced at them during a round-up of drug suspects at a Bronx housing complex on January 5th. Two officers were wounded when a third officer shot at the dog, sending a bullet ricocheting in the narrow hallway. But Miranda denies siccing his dog on the cops.
Miranda says he was leaving his father's basement apartment that night when he was confronted by three cops, and claims he ran back in because he had no ID and was out on parole. That's when the pit bull burst out of the apartment, and after shooting the dog, cops subdued Miranda. "They threw me into the wall and punched me in the side and threw me on the floor and started kicking and punching me," Miranda tells The Post. "They put me in handcuffs and started kicking me and punching me in the ribs, back and face on floor. They did the same to my uncle and father."
Once he was led outside, Miranda was placed on the ground next to his friend Jonathan Baez, who is seen being punched repeatedly in the head in the video below. The beating was allegedly sparked when Baez told cops they deserved to get shot, not the dog. Two officers, rookie John Cicero, 28 and William Green, 26, have been suspended without pay, and two sergeants, Junior Corela and Phil Connor, have been placed on modified desk duty. Baez was charged with obstructing government and resisting arrest, but he tells the Post, 'They never even told me they were officers to begin with. I never resisted. The video speaks for itself."
Miranda was charged with reckless endangerment and weapons possession. Three others, including two relatives, were charged with resisting arrest. Yesterday NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "We simply are never going to tolerate something like that. We're going to take swift and firm action when we see activities of that nature."
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