NYPD cop who was caught on video punching man to the ground and putting a knee on his neck during social-distancing bust quits two days before his departmental trial
An NYPD officer who was seen on video attacking a bystander at an arrest that started as a social-distancing bust in Manhattan has called it quits - just days before his departmental trial.
Officer Francisco X. Garcia, resigned from the NYPD on Tuesday, two days before his trial over the brutal on May 2, reported the Daily News.
Garcia will still be able to collect his full pension as he was not fired from the NYPD, despite the investigation into his conduct.
During the incident, Garcia was in the process of arresting two people on a Lower East Side sidewalk for marijuana possession after stopping them based on a suspected social-distancing violation.
He then appeared to put his knee Shakiem Brunson's neck as onlookers yelled. Video shows Garcia get up and approach a bystander, threatening him with a Taser and telling him not to 'flex' and to 'get the f*** back'
The bystander, Donni Wright, 33, steps forward toward Garcia, who immediately takes him down, punching and slapping him.
Officer Francisco Garcia left image, was involved in an arrest related to a suspected social distancing violation May 2 when he approached bystander Donni Wright left image, and punched him. Garcia took Wright down to the pavement, punching and slapping him repeatedly and then seeming to kneel on his neck
Garcia then seems to place his knee on Wright's neck as other officers handcuff him.
Outcry over the arrest was swift. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the attack 'unacceptable' the next day.
He announced that Garcia was placed on modified duty and stripped of his badge and gun.
During the May 2 arrest on the Lower East Side, video appears to show Officer Garcia placing his knee on the necks of two men, Shakiem Brunson and later Wright
On the same day of his brutal arrest, Wright was arrested on charges of assault on a police officer and resisting arrest. The charges were deferred pending further investigation and then officially dropped on May 18, a Manhattan District Attorney's Office spokesperson said.
The DA spokesperson said an investigation into Garcia's conduct is ongoing.
'While his not being on the force any longer is important, what's even more important is him being prosecuted criminally and convicted and going to jail for what he did,' Sanford Rubenstein, Wright's lawyer, told the Daily News.
The day after the arrests caused an outcry, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called Garcia's actions 'unacceptable' and announced he was placed on modified duty
Donni Wright's attorney, Sanford Rubenstein, filed a $50 million lawsuit against the city and said it was 'important' for Garcia to be prosecuted over the May 2 arrest
Wright filed a $50 million lawsuit against the city. His mother said the arrest caused him to be hospitalized.
'The doctor said he's in pretty bad shape,' Donna Wright told the Daily News two days after the arrest. 'The officer really did physical damage to my son. He is not able to lift or sit.'
Facing a departmental trial scheduled for Thursday, Garcia handed in his resignation Tuesday, the News reported.
Garcia will be able to collect his full police pension because he joined the NYPD in 2012, which makes him a 'Tier 3' employee, sources told the News.
In less than a decade on the police force, Garcia was named in seven lawsuits that cost city taxpayers at least a combined $200,000, the New York Post reported.