3 days ago
Video shows police sergeant grabbing teen by neck in Rockland County
A Haverstraw police sergeant is on leave after he was seen grabbing a teenager by the neck.
The incident was caught on surveillance video.
It happened just after 10 p.m. Sunday outside a bodega along Broadway in Downtown Haverstraw.
Surveillance footage shows young people hanging out on the sidewalk after the town's United Latin Festival and Parade. Police were also on the scene, urging many of them to go home.
That's when an exchange between an officer and a 17-year-old turns violent.
The unidentified Haverstraw police sergeant is seen grabbing the teen by the neck, pushing him against a store window.
That sergerant is now on paid administrative leave, according to Town Supervisor Howard T. Phillips.
"The actions he took were completely inappropriate," Phillips said.
Phillips says there were 59 arrests that took place Sunday, including the 17-year-old. Many of those arrests, he said, were for disorderly conduct.
Phillips says while police had their hands full that night, he maintains the sergeant was out of line.
Confusion over whether the teen had a gun led to the significant police response outside the bodega, he said.
"One of the officers' clips came out of his holster, fell on the ground. With that, another officer yelled, 'Gun,'" Phillips said.
Witness Jean Poulard, who can seen in the footage just feet away from the altercation, claims the sergeant was triggered by what the teen told him.
"The kid told him straight up, 'You're not my father,' and the cop lost it and basically did what he did," Poulard said.
With an active investigation underway, Haverstraw Police did respond to CBS News New York's requests for comment. We were referred to the town's public information officer, but were told he is on vacation.
