On-Duty Mailman (Glen Grays) Says Video of NYPD Arrest Saved Him
Mar 30, 16 by
Qwest7 2 Comments
Glen Grays
*Video footage of a recent arrest made by two New York Police Department officers ended up being a big help for the postal worker who was arrested.
In an interview with “
CBS This Morning,”
Glen Grays credited the video with saving his life. Footage of the incident, which occurred two weeks ago, has widely circulated online in the days since.
“The only thing that I think saved me was that it was on videotape,” Grays, a 27-year-old postal worker, said.
Media sources report the incident started when Grays, who was on-duty at the time was sideswiped by an unmarked police car as he walked across President Street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn to deliver a package on his route. According to Grays, he told the officers they almost hit him. From there, the plainclothes lawmen surrounded Grays and can be heard yelling “stop resisting” while cuffing him.
Grays, who insists he’s not resisting, allowed the cops to cuff him and place him in their unmarked car.
“I was extremely terrified. I was afraid if I didn’t comply, something was going to happen to me,” Grays told CBS.
“I believe they wanted him to resist,” Brooklyn Borough President
Eric Adams, who released the video, told “CBS This Morning.” “Those officers were extremely aggressive. He was smart enough not to resist. I believe because of that, he’s sitting here today telling his story.”
Gray’s encounter with the officers and the resulting video marks the latest incident where cell phone video has captured questionable encounters between police and citizens. Cell phone camera use among citizens has made a noticeable impact on the way authorities interact with the people they are sworn to protect as the cameras have proven to corroborate a witnesses’ account of what happened in many cases regarding police abuse or brutality.
On Monday, NYPD Commissioner
Bill Bratton weighed in on the Grays incident, saying he was “not pleased” with what the video showed, adding that the participating officers were supposed to be in uniform.
Despite showing Grays arrest and his compliance, footage from the incident did not capture what happened in the police vehicle after officers pulled off from the scene with Grays.
“I was told to shut up a numerous amount of times,” stated Grays, whose wife is a police officer. “They rear ended a car and I wound up from the back seat banging my left shoulder onto the driver’s seat and banging my face onto their arm rest.”
Since the video surfaced on the Internet, many outraged viewers have labeled the arrest an abuse of power. Although the incident was troubling and Grays was issued a disorderly conduct summons, he admits he’s not out to get the officers fired.
*
“I don’t want them to be jobless because they might have family, kids they need to support,” he said. “It’s sad. I thought when I put on a uniform that I’d be treated a little different, but there’s no difference. I’m just another brother with a uniform.”
At this time, the incident with Grays and the NYPD officers is currently under review.
*He has to see the problem with this statement / having sympathy for those who had no damn concern for his safety, his family his well being.....
