Bed-Stuy Teen Watched Cops Tase Dad Into Heart Attack: Lawsuit

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — A Bed-Stuy teen watched police officers put his brother in a chokehold and repeatedly tase his sickly father into a heart attack, then was punched in the head by a cop when he started to scream, according to a lawsuit against the NYPD.

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The Greene family can sue five NYPD officers for a slew of violent arrests that took place on the family’s Bed-Stuy front lawn in 2014, according to a Brooklyn federal judge ruling issued Tuesday.

Sergeant Erek Powers and police officers Mark Xylas, Ryan Galvin, Romando Julien and Vaughan Ettienne — a body-builder reportedly suspended for steroid use — may now face trial on charges of an unlawful search, false arrest of a 15-year-old boy, and assault and battery against the father and son.

“This is a good thing for the simple fact that the case will go forward and there will be some accountability,” said the Greene’s attorney, Richard Washington.

“If there’s justification for what happened, I don’t know what that is.”

The five cops arrived at the Greene family’s Macdonough Street home on Aug. 29 with an arrest warrant for Yasin Greene, now 26, on a nonviolent disorderly conduct charge and an anonymous tip about possible weapons dealing, according to court records and Washington.

The cops knocked on the door as the family was eating breakfast, then burst into the apartment, locked Yasin in handcuffs and led him out of the building, according to the complaint and judge’s ruling.

Yasin Greene’s father Anthony, 53, and three brothers — Messiah, Kwane and Blacksun — rushed onto the front lawn where they watched Yasin be marched toward an unmarked police car, the complaint says.

When Kwane Greene, 28, attempted to pass Officer Xylas, the cop shoved him against a car and arrested him, according to the decision.

Messiah Greene, then 18, ran toward Kwane and tried to separate him from the cops, but Powers grabbed him from behind, put him in a chokehold, kicked his legs out and slammed him to the ground, records show.

The judge ruled these arrests were lawful because Messiah and Kwane Greene physically tried to stop the cops, but said what happened next merited closer inspection.

Cops argued Anthony Greene, who then weighed 300 pounds, also tried to stop the arrests, so they issued a warning then tased him when he ignored their requests, court records show. They say Anthony Greene fell to the ground but continued to fight them, so they tased him two more times and called for an ambulance.

But Anthony Greene’s family argued the father, who suffered from heart disease and diabetes, had his arms up as a sign of surrender when Sergeant Powers tased him without warning.

The Greenes said they watched as Anthony went into convulsions on the ground and Powers tased him twice more, handcuffed him, then put him in the back of a police car.

“They electrocuted the father to the point where he had a heart attack,” said Washington. “He had a stent in his heart.”

The taser barbs were still embedded in Greene’s back when he got to the hospital and doctors had “to dig them out,” the court records show. The family also claimed cops slammed their door on Anthony’s legs because the tasing rendered him unable to move.

Anthony spent the next nine days locked to a hospital bed by his feet, said his attorney.

When Anthony’s 15-year-old son Blacksun began to scream, Powers knocked him to the ground with a slap to the head, handcuffed and arrested him, according to the complaint.

“He tried to bring his father heart medication,” said Washington. “The only thing he remembers is lying dazed on the ground.”

Officers then swept the house — where they found an insulin syringe and a joint — and got permission from Monifa Greene, Anthony’s wife, to open the family safe which held an unlicensed gun and 115 rounds of ammunition, court records show.

It was only at the local precinct that officers realized Blacksun was 15 and let him go without filing any paperwork, said Washington.

Anthony Greene, who later admitted the gun belonged to his father-in-law, was charged with four offenses on Aug. 30 that were dropped under speedy trial laws in March 2015, court records show.

The health of the Bed-Stuy father has since deteriorated to the point where he’s lost 150 pounds, relies on a wheelchair and finds communication difficult, said Washington.

“The sad reality is he’s in bad physical condition,” said Washington. “It definitely had a lingering effect.”

The Brooklyn District Attorney declined to prosecute Yasin Greene on criminal possession of a weapon, obstruction of governmental administration and resisting arrest.

Charges were dropped against Messiah Greene, court records show.

“All of these men have graduated from high school, gone to college, this is a legitimate Brooklyn family,” said Washington. “This is inexcusable.”

The Greenes filed suit on Nov. 10, 2015 seeking damages for themselves and punishment for the cops, according to their civil complaint.