Former tennis player James Blake was mistakenly tackled and handcuffed by police Wednesday on a Midtown street.
Police say the retired American star was misidentified by a witness cooperating with an investigation into fraudulent cell phone purchases.
According to sources, detectives with the NYPD's Identity Task Force organized a sting cellphone delivery at the Grand Hyatt.
Sources say the delivery man identified two people he took cell phones to on Tuesday, one of the men being Blake.
Both men were handcuffed, but Blake was later released after being correctly identified by police.
"This shouldn't have happened, and it's something that, you know, we'll deal with with the police and we'll find out what they have to say say internally," Blake said. "You know, hopefully there was, there's video of it and we'll see what happens."
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton spoke to NY1 about the incident.
"It's very disturbing, the idea that he claims he was rushed by a person in a pair of t-shirt and shorts who pushed him to the ground and he was assisted by four others who identified themselves, ultimately, as police officers, and that he suffered an injury during that. Just the nature of what he described is not what we do," he said.
The NYPD says one officer was placed on modified assignment in connection with the case following the review of surveillance video.
Bratton says he's already ordered internal affairs to begin an investigation.