HIKIND PRAISES D.A. HYNES FOR DROPPING CHARGES AGAINST MAN BEATEN BY POLICE IN CROWN HEIGHTS

NEWS FROM
ASSEMBLYMAN DOV HIKIND

October 22, 2012

Contact: Yehudah Meth                                                       For Immediate Release

718-853-9616 (office)
973-945-4903 (cell)

HIKIND PRAISES D.A. HYNES FOR DROPPING CHARGES AGAINST MAN BEATEN BY POLICE IN CROWN HEIGHTS

Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) applauded District Attorney Charles Hynes who will be dismissing charges against a Brooklyn man accused of multiple crimes, including assaulting a police officer. Unbeknownst to the arresting officers, a surveillance video captured footage showing clearly that it was Ehud Halevi who was assaulted by two NYPD officers, not the other way around.

“District Attorney Hynes is bringing this unfortunate incident to its only proper conclusion,” said the Assemblyman. “Dismissing all charges against Halevi is the proper and correct course of action. Halevi had already been through a brutal and prolonged beating, as well as four days in prison. There is no reason to maintain accusations that could have landed Mr. Halevi in jail for years."

"We await the outcome of the investigation by the D.A. and Internal Affairs into the conduct of the two arresting officers, who were clearly not telling the truth.

“Sadly, all of us now—citizens and elected officials alike—are forced to wonder how many more arrests have been false; how many other accusations of police brutality have been true however impossible to substantiate.

“As video surveillance becomes more and more widespread, it is my hope that the knowledge of ‘everyone’s watching’ will lead to stricter adherence to the law by everyone without having to turn to the video.”

After being contacted by leaders of the Crown Heights community regarding Halevi’s beating and incarceration, Assemblyman Hikind led a number of elected officials in a public condemnation of the police brutality and a demand for an investigation into the incident.