Hell's Kitchen Cops Maced, Arrested Teen Bystander, Suit Alleges

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — A Black teenager and his mother are suing the NYPD and several police officers, alleging that they unlawfully stopped him, sprayed him with mace, and arrested him for being a bystander to a fight in Hell's Kitchen two years ago.

The teenager — identified only by his initials, W.B. — lives in the Bronx along with his mother, Stephanie Ceteno, who is also listed as a plaintiff.

Their lawsuit, filed earlier this month in a Manhattan state court, centers around a Sept. 12, 2019 incident that happened near the corner of West 53rd Street and Eighth Avenue.

Around 2:30 p.m. that afternoon, the teen had just gotten out of school nearby and was walking with his sister and a friend when they came upon a fight between several students, his attorney said. (The school is not specified, though Manhattan High School is near the corner in question.)

The fight was broken up and W.B. began walking away alongside his sister and friend, the suit says. Moments later, however, he was confronted by several police officers who grabbed his shoulder, twisted his arms behind his back, sprayed him in the face with mace, shoved him to the ground and put a knee on his back, the suit claims.

A teacher, named in the complaint as Mr. Lopez, saw the teenager on the ground and tried to tell officers that W.B. was not involved in the fight, but the officers ignored the claim and threatened to arrest him for interfering, the suit alleges.

The teen suffered eye, left hip and shoulder injuries during the arrest, forcing police to take him to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where he was given eye drops and pain relievers, his lawyer said.

He was then taken to the NYPD's Midtown North Precinct, where officers interrogated and threatened to prosecute him, before bringing him to a juvenile detention center in Brooklyn, where he was questioned again and finally released, according to the suit.

More than six months later, in June 2020, a city judge moved to dismiss W.B.'s charges.

The lawsuit names four NYPD officers alleged to have taken part in the unlawful detention, as well as 10 "John or Jane Doe" cops whose names were not known.

At least two of the named officers — Katherine Osipowich and Peter Boyle — have been the subjects of misconduct complaints, according to NYPD records. None of the two complaints against Boyle or the three against Osipowich were substantiated.

Boyle was also named in a 2018 lawsuit by a woman who claimed he unlawfully detained her at Mount Sinai West Hospital while she was trying to visit her son. A judge dismissed the case last fall, though the plaintiff moved to appeal.

The teenage plaintiff and his mother are seeking monetary damages from the city, alleging that the officers violated his contitutional rights during the arrest and subsequent detention.

Peter Sim, the attorney representing W.B. and his mother, did not respond to requests for comment. The NYPD declined to comment on a pending lawsuit.

Kathleen Culliton contributed reporting.