Family alleges police beat man with mental illness

From WCBS-TV:

NEW YORK ― A group of New York City police officers are facing disturbing allegations of brutality. The officers are accused of viciously beating an emotionally disturbed man.

A group of New York City police officers are facing disturbing allegations of
brutality. The officers are accused of viciously beating an emotionally disturbed man.

The NYPD says the incident was a case of self-defense, but the man's family says it went beyond that. Standing across from the 83rd Precinct, Zully De La Cruz starts talking about her brother to a group of reporters, but then, emotion took over.

"Six of the eight officers physically abused my brother without any consideration of his mental health illness," she said. "They hit my... [begins crying]."

De La Cruz' brother, 26-year-old Gamalier Reyes, (pictured) has a history of mental illness and emergency calls from a family. On early Saturday morning, the family called Emanuel Simon, Reyes' psychiatric social worker from Woodhull Hospital, as they have before. And he called 911.

Police on April 14 released a transcript of that call, when Simon talks to an EMS operator. With the 911 dispatcher listening, Simon, the social worker, says: "Is he-? Threatening, yes – he's threatening... they just came back from the Dominican Republic. They had to come back early because he got in a fight; he was very aggressive over there; he got in a fight over there; he got his head cracked open and they just came back."

But the family says he did not get the injuries he is now in Woodhull for in the Dominican Republic, but because of the police in Brooklyn. More importantly, they were awaiting paramedics; instead they got police not trained, they say, to handle mental illness.

"They rushed in here, they came in here, they locked this door, and all you could hear was the commotion of my brother screaming," said De La Cruz, who showed CBS 2 a small area where she says six police officers attacked her brother.

The Brooklyn District Attorney, Charles Hynes, is prepared to step in.

"When we have allegations of police brutality, we actively investigate," said Hynes. "Charlie Duryea, my executive assistant, the district attorney in charge of force complaints, is personally in charge on my end and we'll proceed from there."

The police say Reyes told them, "You're going to have to kill me. I'm not going."

They say Reyes also punched one officer and kicked another, sending both to the hospital. One of those officers is still unable to return to work because of his injuries.