Former tennis star James Blake wants an apology from the police officer who misidentified him as a criminal suspect and wrongfully body-slammed him to the ground.
Speaking with Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America,” Blake said he expects an explanation and mea culpa from the five officers who wrongly detained him outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York on Wednesday.
“I’d like an apology. I’d like an explanation for how they conducted themselves. I think we all need to be held accountable for our actions, and police as well,” Blake said. “I do think that most cops are doing a great job, but when you police with reckless abandon you need to be held accountable.”
The New York Daily News originally reported that Blake was standing outside his hotel and waiting for a car to take him to the U.S. Open to do television work when he was slammed to the sidewalk by a white police officer who was not in uniform, who was later joined by other plain-clothed officers. (No word yet if the policeman involved was Officer Farva of “Super Troopers” fame.) According to Blake, he did not resist the officers, all of whom were white.
The Daily News stated Blake was then correctly identified by a former officer about 15 minutes later. Blake was being mistaken for a suspect in an investigation of possible credit-card fraud.
Blake told the Daily News the cop who slammed him to the ground never apologized. He also never got the officer’s name. Blake sustained “bumps and bruises” as a result of the incident. However, he told Roberts that he does not believe this is a case of racism.
“Immediately after it happened I was just … so shaken up I just didn’t want to hear anything or talk to anyone. I immediately talked to my wife and she said, ‘What if this happened to me?’ And immediately I was furious.”
The NYPD later released a statement on the matter:
Today James Blake was detained by police in midtown Manhattan in regards to an ongoing investigation into fraudulently purchased cellphones, after being misidentified by a cooperating witness. Once Blake was properly identified and found to have no connection to the investigation, he was released from police custody immediately. In regards to the alleged improper use of force, the police commissioner directed the internal affairs bureau to investigate.
The New York Times reported Thursday that the officer in question has been given desk duty, because that’s totally the right disciplinary move for someone who charged, body-slammed and wrongly detained a cooperative, not to mention innocent, man.
(Via Sporting News, New York Daily News)
