The NYPD was reviewing the arrest on Sunday of an on-duty postal worker in Brooklyn earlier this month that was captured on video, sparking outrage and calls for the officers involved to be fired.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said the worker, 27-year-old Glenn Grays, was almost sideswiped by a police car as he got out of his truck to deliver a package on March 17 on President Street in Crown Heights.
Grays said something, Adams said, but then started to cross the street. That’s when he said the plainclothes cops backed up, got out of the car, and followed him across the street at about 4 p.m.
“It is not a crime for someone to voice outrage after almost being struck by a vehicle,” Adams said, speaking at a news conference on March 22. “This could have been another Eric Garner situation if Glenn had not responded as calmly as he did.”
Grays was placed in cuffs and brought to the precinct. His mail truck was left behind. Adams, a former NYPD captain, said the cops didn’t buckle Grays’ seat belt and ended up rear-ending another vehicle on their way to the precinct.
The officers issued Grays a summons, Adams said, “in hopes of sweeping this under the rug.” Adams said Grays is now determining if he will pursue civil litigation.
A representative for the police department said in an email that “the matter is under internal review.”
The encounter was captured on video. It shows the officers asking Grays where his identification is and him telling them it’s in his postal truck.
They repeatedly tell him to “stop resisting” but Grays appears to be cooperating.
Adams said he wants all officers involved to be taken out of plainclothes and put back into uniforms while an internal investigation is conducted.
“It is traumatizing to be arrested,” Adams said. “They traumatized Glenn.”
Grays mother, identified in reports as Sonya Sapp, said she has six sons and Glenn is her oldest.
“As soon as I saw the video, I immediately started crying,” she said. “I worry about all my boys — every day, every minute, every second of every day. And I raised him to be humble … and if the cop could have just humbled himself and just let it go, it would have been a lot easier.”
