An NYPD lieutenant who oversaw the arrest of a US postal worker this month has had his gun and badge taken as a result.
The on-duty postal worker had claimed he was nearly hit by an unmarked police car when he shouted in frustration, prompting the arrest.
Lieutenant Luis Machado who supervising the plainclothes officers who then backed their squad car up, screamed at the postal worker, then demanded his ID before cuffing and arresting him.
As of Thursday, Machado was placed on modified duty over the arrest after being stripped of his badge and his gun.
The arrest of postal worker Glenn Grays, 27, took place on March 17 and was captured on several cameras, including a cell phone video that was circulated by the media.
Grays was taken to the 71st Precinct station house in Brooklyn and charged with resisting arrest, leaving his mail truck double-parked and abandoned on a busy street.
A bystander’s video, which was released by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, shows plainclothes officers coming up to Grays at the door of an apartment building and asking for ID before placing him under arrest.
“My ID right there on the side of the truck,” Mr. Grays says. One the officers responds, “Let’s go get your ID.”
“I’m not going nowhere. I’m delivering my postal route,” Mr. Grays is heard responding.
In the video, officers repeatedly tell Mr. Grays to stop resisting arrest, though he doesn’t appear to be resisting and can be heard shouting back, “I’m not resisting.”
Mr. Grays is then handcuffed, placed in a car and charged with disorderly conduct along with a criminal summons.
The incident has sparked an Internal Affairs Bureau investigation.
Grays has said he wants an apology from the Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, but while he also thinks the cops should be disciplined, he doesn’t think they should lose their jobs.
“Honestly, people have families. I don’t want them to take meals off kids’ plates,” Grays told the Wall Street Journal in an interview on Wednesday.
“We’re all human, we all make mistakes, but lately a lot of mistakes have been made by police officers,” Grays told.
Bratton told reporters on Tuesday he had “strong concerns” about the officers’ actions.
“I am very interested in the charge that was made against this individual, what he was arrested for and the validity of that,” Bratton said. “Based on what I witnessed on the various videos I’ve reviewed I have strong concerns about the charge against that individual.”
Machado and his team, officers Lazo Lluka, Miguel Rodriguez and David Savella, have been pulled from the elite conditions unit they were assigned to, Bratton said.
Lou Turco, president of the Lieutenants Benevolent Association, said the union would defend Lt. Machado and “wait for all the facts to come out.”
