Two high-ranking NYPD officers who were reportedly injured during violent clashes with anti-police activists on the Brooklyn Bridge in 2020 have filed civil suits against their alleged attackers.
Lt. Michael Butler and Lt. Richard Mack both claim in court papers that they were “assaulted, without provocation” during a protest last year, the New York Post reports.
Butler had his scalp split open, allegedly by a woman wielding a wooden cane, while Mack suffered fractured orbital bones when he was allegedly pummeled by two men, at least one of whom he said wore heavy rings that amounted to a set of brass knuckles.
Both officers are seeking unspecified damages for their injuries, which include “contusions, abrasions, soreness, sleeplessness and agitation, and significant pain and suffering,” according to their largely identical suits filed separately in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Butler’s suit targets Chanice Reyes of Morris Plains, N.J. Court papers say Butler was trying to “effect a lawful arrest” on July 15, 2020, when Reyes allegedly “intervened and… intentionally struck Plaintiff in the head with a cane, causing serious injury to his head, as well as pain and bruising to Plaintiff’s hands.”
Mack’s suit names as defendants Quran Campbell and Banks Shaborn, both of The Bronx, who court papers say “intentionally and continuously struck Plaintiff’s face, causing serious injury to orbital bone [sic], as well as pain and bruising to Plaintiff’s face and head.”
All of the suspects have pleaded not guilty and are due in criminal court on Aug. 16.
