Elderly jaywalker demands US$ 5mln in compensation
- By Lin Liyao
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, January 28, 2014
84-year-old Kang Chun Wong has planned to file a US$ 5 million lawsuit after being bruised, bloodied and humiliated by New York Police Department (NYPD) for jaywalking last week, NY Daily News reported today.
|
|
| An 84-year-old man called Kang Chun Wong was bloodied by the New York police on Sunday after allegedly jaywalking on the Upper West Side, New York City. Wong needed to be hospitalized for a head wound after police knocked him to the ground when he tried to walk away as they ticketed him. An eyewitness said the man did not seem like he understood English or knew what was going on. He was charged with obstruction of government administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, cops said. [Photo: Sina] |
On Jan.19 local time, Wong was suddenly stopped by a local precinct commander when he stepped off the curb at the southeast corner of 96th St. and Broadway to cross. The commander then demanded Wong to show his identification and subsequently walked away with his ID card.
Wong tried to get his card back, saying in Cantonese, "Give me back my ID." In response to Wong's repeated requests for his card back, the cop whipped out his handcuffs and spoke into his portable radio.
Several officers then raced over and grabbed the 84-year-old man, pushing him against the wall of a building. Wong said he was next pushed onto the ground and struck on the head with the blood streaming down his face and hands.
Wong insisted that when he was about to cross the road the signal had been green and he did not put a foot wrong. "It was excessive how they [the police] handled me," he said in an interview. "They made me feel ashamed and I was very humiliated."
Wong said there was no food or water offered to him when he was being booked at the 24th Precinct police station.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has called the incident "unfortunate," and said the case is currently under deeper investigation by NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau.
Wong, born in 1930, immigrated to Cuba at the age of 19, and has been living in New York City since 1966. He owns a popular restaurant on Broadway and spends his retirement doting on his grandchildren and playing cards with friends at an elderly center in the city's Chinatown.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)