If you’re not caught up, on Wednesday, former world top-10 tennis player James Blake was slammed to the ground by police in Manhattan after being mistaken for a suspect in an identity theft ring.
Although the NYPD Commissioner has apologized to the former star, after he requested one on Good Morning America, it doesn’t appear that the incident will be going away anytime soon.
The New York Post is now reporting that the cop who slammed Blake, identified as 38-year-old James Frascatore, has had five civilian complaints in just seven months, as well as two excessive-force lawsuits.
Despite Frascatore’s incidents, the Post is also reporting that he was on track to become a detective before his very public incident with Blake.
Of the lawsuits against Frascatore, one claims Frascatore and five other cops “sadistically and maliciously” beat him outside of his Queens home in 2013.
Last year, WNYC radio revealed the five complaints filed against Frascatore with the Civilian Complaint Review Board — noting that it was more complaints than get lodged against 90 percent of cops during their entire careers.
One complaint was made by Stefon Luckey, who has a $5 million suit against Frascatore and several other cops, claiming he was beaten and pepper-sprayed after getting racially profiled outside a Queens deli in May 2013.
The CCRB dismissed Luckey’s complaint, but Luckey, who is black, maintains Frascatore punched him twice in the stomach and called him a “f- -king n- - - -r,” said his lawyer, Philip Hines.
An investigation into Frascatore and the other officers who detained Blake is ongoing, but, for now, Frascatore has been stripped of his gun and badge, pending a probe.
