Early Sunday morning, a 26-year-old woman died after being hit by a car on the far west end of 96th Street — the third pedestrian fatality to happen on the block in eight days. With Mayor De Blasio vowing to lower the rate of such accidents, the NYPD increased its presence in the area today, with officers handing out tickets to jaywalkers in an effort to discourage people from putting themselves in harm’s way. But the New York Post reports that the cops got way too aggressive with Kang Wong, an 84-year-old man they spotted crossing the intersection of 96th Street and Broadway late Sunday afternoon.
According to Ian King, who witnessed the incident, an officer stopped Wong, who “didn’t seem to speak English.” The cop escorted Wong to a nearby bank and “stood him up against the wall and was trying to write him a ticket.” However, Wong “didn’t seem to understand, and he started walking away.” When the officer tried to pull Wong back, Wong pushed him. After that, King says, “It was like cops started running in from everywhere.” Wong was thrown to the ground, handcuffed, and hauled into a police car “badly beaten and bloodied,” as you can see below:
The NYPD told the New York Daily News that they’re “looking into” Wong’s arrest, so the officers involved will have a chance to explain why they felt the use of such force against a confused senior citizen was justified.
