NYPD Officer Charged With Assaulting Teen, Falsifying Documents

CHELSEA, NY — A grand jury indicted an NYPD officer for assaulting a 19-year-old man and then making false statements about the incident to his supervisors and prosecutors, the Manhattan district attorney announced Wednesday.

“This defendant is charged with flagrantly abusing his position as an officer of the law when he beat and dragged a young man and then lied about the attack,” said Cyrus Vance in a statement. “The alleged conduct does not only violate the oath he took to protect and to serve; it also weakens the public trust in law enforcement."

Police officer Elijah Saladeen, 48, was indicted in New York State Supreme Court on charges of assault and attempted assault for allegedly punching the victim in the face and head inside of a West 17th Street apartment building. Saladeen was responding to a 911 call of trespassing on Feb. 24, 2017.

Afterwards, Saladeen allegedly dragged the victim to the back of the building and repeatedly punched the teen in his ribs and abdomen.

The NYPD officer was also indicted on charges of making a punishable false written statement and offering a false instrument for filing for the inaccurate statements he made on the incident to his supervisors and to prosecutors. Those statements were included in a sworn criminal court complaint, NYPD reports and other court documents, according to Vance.

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