NEW YORK — The police department and Queens District Attorney’s office are investigating after video emerged of an officer apparently kneeling on a man’s neck during an arrest, an illegal restraint technique. 

Officers arrested the man, SirCarlyle Arnold, for riding an ATV.

“It was excessive force,” Arnold said in an interview. “For what? Because I was doing donuts in the street?”

Olayemi Olurin, Arnold’s attorney, said she believes that this is the first publicly known instance of an NYPD officer using the move since the city outlawed it in July. The restraint technique became infamous last May, after a Minnesota police officer used it on George Floyd, causing his death and igniting a worldwide protest movement against systemic racism and police brutality. 

In the video, shot by bystanders, people can be heard screaming at a group of officers arresting Arnold to get off him. The arresting officers were not wearing face masks, in violation of Department rules. It is unclear based on the video how long the officers held Arnold on the ground.

“Look at his knee! Look at his knee!” one man repeatedly yells. 

Police officers arrested Arnold, a 34-year-old Long Island resident, as he and a group of about 50 other people drove their ATVs along Sutphin Boulevard on January 2, according to Olurin. The top charge in his case is 2nd degree reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor.

The police complaint describes Arnold driving an ATV in circles in the street, as well as on the sidewalk, and at one point driving so close to an officer at the scene that the officer had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.

The complaint does not include details of the chokehold. Olayemi said it is not clear who appears to be kneeling on Arnold in the video.

Arnold said he usually rides his ATV on trails on Long Island. That night, he said, he and the group of motorbike and ATV riders were there in honor of a friend who died who also rode such vehicles. Arnold says he worked in interior construction for offices before the pandemic left him unemployed.

He denied that he nearly hit the officer but admitted to riding in circles in the street. He said that he didn’t initially realize the officer’s knee was on his neck because his adrenaline was going and he wanted to stay calm to avoid escalating the situation. 

“I didn't try to resist in no way,” Arnold said. “I didn't say nothing, not a word.”

Under a series of police reforms voted into law last year, the knee-neck chokehold is considered a class A misdemeanor. 

Det. Denise Moroney, a spokesperson for the NYPD, said in an emailed statement: “We are aware of the incident and we are reviewing the events that occurred.”

The Legal Aid Society has called for all charges against Arnold to be dropped, for the NYPD to fire all the officers involved in his arrest and for the Queens District Attorney’s office to bring charges against them. 

“We are aware of the allegations against NYPD officers,” a spokesperson for Melinda Katz, Queens District Attorney, said in an emailed statement. “Our Public Corruption Bureau is in the process of reviewing all evidence in this case, including the officers’ body worn camera videos.”

The Police Benevolent Association, a police union, is representing the officers involved in the arrest, according to John Nuthall, a spokesman for the Association. 

Pat Lynch, president of the union, said in an emailed statement that people accusing the officer of putting his knee on Arnold’s neck "have it backwards: they are prejudging the case based on a few seconds of unclear video, then calling for an investigation. That is not how justice works. As always, we will defend our members’ rights to due process as the investigation moves forward.”

Arnold’s arrest may become a test case of the new — and controversial — law against knee-neck chokeholds. The NYPD vehemently opposed the bill, arguing that it would make it more difficult for officers to arrest people and could lead to officers being prosecuted for inadvertently compressing a person’s diaphragm.

In August, NY1 reported that the City Council was considering adding the word “recklessly” to that provision of the law, and specifying that chokeholds would be considered illegal only if it "causes injury due to asphyxiation.” News of the potential amendment led to protests in the city.

Olayemi said that placing the burden on an arrestee to show proof of injury was unfair and wrong.

She said she could probably still prove an injury in Arnold’s case, “but I shouldn’t need to.”

Arnold has been released from custody, and his next appearance is scheduled for March.

He said that he is in pain in his neck, back, ankles, and knees and intends to go see a doctor for a full check-up and a COVID-19 test.

Arnold said he is not sure whether he wants to sue the officers who arrested him but wants them to face consequences. 

“They held me accountable for my actions, it's only right for them to be held accountable for their actions,” he said.

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