Cop Gets 2 Years Probation for Stomping on Man's Head in Bed-Stuy

Pictured: Joel Edouard, left, stomping on the head of Jahmi-El Cuffee. Image via amateur video.

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — An NYPD officer was sentenced to two years probation after stomping on the head of a man during a Bed-Stuy arrest in July, 2014.

Officer Joel Edouard, 38, must also quit the NYPD immediately if he isn't fired first, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.

According to the DA's office, on the night of July 23, 2014, Edouard and his partner saw Jahmi-El Cuffee, 32, drinking and apparently smoking marijuana outside 223 Malcolm X Blvd. in Bed-Stuy.

The DA's account, based on a video recording filmed by a bystander and witness testimony, states that "Cuffee resisted arrest and tussled with the officers."

The video shows a chaotic scene with Cuffee held down by Edouard and his partner. Cuffee repeatedly yells "Help me!" while the officers hold him in place and tell him to stop resisting.

After two more officers arrive, Edouard walks away from the scene of the arrest, as the man recording the video says to the cop, "What are you doing, bro? You're in your feelings way too much. You're dead wrong."

Edouard returns moments later and stomps once on Cuffee's head with his right boot, resulting in screams of shock from those watching the arrest.

"Cuffee’s head then hit the concrete, causing him to suffer a contusion and later dizziness, headaches and nausea," the DA's office said.

According to the DA, Edouard also briefly pulled his gun on Cuffee prior to the stomping (which occurs 1:40 into the below video).

In April, Edouard was found guilty of a misdemeanor assault for his actions.

During the trial, prosecutor Marc Fliedner said that in the video of the incident, Edouard looked like he was “stomp(ing) on a roach that you intend to kill.”

But Edourd's attorney, Anthony Ricco, claimed that his client only stomped on Cuffee's hand, and accused Cuffee of exaggerating his injuries using Photoshop.

“You see good police work every step of the way,” Ricco argued in court, as reported by the Daily News. “This officer is trapped ... What is he supposed to do? He does what he has to do. Judge, he’s not a superhero."

"This police officer intentionally and needlessly stomped on the head of a suspect who had already been restrained by fellow officers," Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said in a Thursday statement. "He deserved to spend time in jail for committing such a blatant act of police brutality, but we accept the sentence imposed by the court.”

Thompson's office had recommended 60 days in jail for Cuffee, followed by two years probation.