Nathan Martinez, an 18-year-old Bronx resident, was arrested at Avenue B and 14th Street after officers accused him of riding a Citi Bike 'in a reckless manner.' Police charged him with seven offenses including reckless endangerment, obstructing government administration, 'reckless driving,' disorderly conduct, and a traffic device violation. Video shows three officers and a sergeant pinning Martinez to the ground, pulling his hair and kneeling on his head while bystanders plead for deescalation. Martinez repeatedly told officers he was not resisting. An officer pulled out a stun gun but did not deploy it. Bystanders and witnesses described the officers' actions as excessive.
The violent arrest shocked bystanders, who said the NYPD cops completely overreacted to a low-level cycling offense. 'They were just fucking brutalizing the poor kid. Three cops to one person, the way they picked him up was crazy,' said Jesus, who works nearby and declined to share his last name. The heated incident comes as NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has escalated enforcement against people on bikes and e-bikes this year by increasing low-level offenses to criminal summonses.
Three officers and a sergeant pinned Martinez to the ground outside a burger shop at the corner, as the youth screamed in pain and said that he was not resisting, the footage showed. 'Stop hurting me,' Martinez shouts at the three officers in the video. 'I'm not even resisting.' In the video, two cops initially grab Martinez's arms, before a third pulls his leg and they fling him to the ground.
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