A Black NYPD officer is suing his department for $5 million for emotional anguish after he was pulled over and arrested him without reason, according to the New York Post.
Officer Karim Powell, 32, said he was off-duty when the incident occurred in March 2017 in Bronx, New York and that two cops claimed that he led them on a car chase before pulling him over.
“He came up, and he said ‘turn around’ and placed me in cuffs,” Powell told The Post. “I said, ‘I’m on the job.’ His reply was, ‘What job?’ and I said, ‘Same job as you.’”
Powell said that he showed officers his identification and his badge but the officers were not convinced that he was also a cop.
“I was standing there for 10 to 15 minutes before a patrol supervisor arrived,” he said. “The only thing I remember thinking of [the cursing cop] was, ‘That guy’s nasty.’ They placed me in his car. A sergeant told the officer to remove the cuffs.”
The NYPD placed Powell on “modified duty” for over a year following an investigation and he was charged with “failure to show ID,” per the Post. He was reinstated to dull duty in April.
“I’ve been accused of something I haven’t done. It’s really unfair,” said Powell. “They were nasty. They didn’t do their job right.”
An NYPD spokeswoman told the Post that they have no record of Powell’s arrest.
“There is no arrest on file for NYPD Police Officer Karim Powell,” Sgt. Jessica McRorie said.
