Brooklyn Man Says Surveillance Video Shows NYPD Tried To Set Him Up
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Brooklyn man claims he was blamed and framed by police for an accident involving a squad car.
He says surveillance video proves he's innocent, and the officers concocted a story to protect themselves, CBS 2's Don Champion reported Friday.
Robert Jackson said he was saved by the tape.
"I was gonna get screwed. I was gonna get railroaded. I knew it," Jackson said.
Surveillance video helped get criminal charges against him dropped. He said he hopes it also helps him win a lawsuit against the city.
"What does it prove? I'm just another victim. I'm another victim," Jackson said.
Jackson's trouble started outside his Brownsville, Brooklyn home last April. He said he was sitting in his parked truck. The surveillance video shows what happened next. An NYPD cruiser is seen driving the wrong way down the street before hitting the back side of Jackson's truck.
"The truck had a little rock to it, so that's when I seen them backing up," Jackson said.
Jackson is then seen getting out of the truck to check for damage. The officers in the cruiser do the same. Then after exchanging innocent words over the accident for a few minutes, Jackson said the officers arrested him in front of his children.
"Next thing you know I see a few cars come so I was like 'oh no.' Then they had gloves on and that's when eight of them approached me," Jackson said.
In his lawsuit filed Tuesday, Jackson claims the officers lied and said he was driving the truck at the time of the accident. But the surveillance video clearly shows that he wasn't.
"I told him you wrong for that and arresting me in front of my kids like that, and he was like 'I'm not messing up my $750,000 home over you!'" Jackson said. "It's their word against my word, and nine times out of 10 I probably would've had to plead guilty to something I didn't do. It's like that."
In his lawsuit Jackson names not only the city but also the two officers involved. He is seeking unspecified damages.
The NYPD wouldn't comment on the case. The city's legal department said it had not yet received the lawsuit, but would be reviewing it.
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