SEE: Violent Social Distancing Arrests Lead To NYPD Investigation

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The NYPD is investigating cops involved in the violent arrests of three people for social distancing violations in the East Village after video of the arrests showed cops throwing people against walls, tackling them to the ground, threatening people with tasers and punching one man in the face, police officials said Sunday.

Police approached a group of people on Avenue D near East Ninth Street around 5:30 p.m. to disperse the crowd accordance with New York's social distancing measures that outlaw public gatherings and force people who do not live together to maintain six feet of separation while outside, an NYPD spokeswoman Mary Frances O’Donnell said in a statement. As officers — many of whom were not wearing masks over their faces — walked toward the group they saw an "open bag of marijuana" and one man who refused to disperse became aggressive with cops the spokeswoman said.

As cops attempted to arrest the man for resisting arrest, a woman attempted to intervene, causing police to arrest her as well, an NYPD spokeswoman said.

Security camera footage that captured the initial arrests shows that the man and women were standing together on the side of the street, not in a large group, when cops first approached them. Police first grab the woman, pinning her arms behind her back and pushing her against the wall of a storefront, according to the video. The man, who is sitting on a stoop, then smacks away the hand of an officer trying to grab him, prompting three cops to push him against a wall. While the man is being arrested, the woman is thrown to the ground by a police officer, according to the video.

As the two are being arrested, a third man approaches the police, according to another video of the arrest posted to social media. The police officer who initially grabbed the woman, approaches the man with his taser pointed and yells: "Move the f--- back right now!" and "What you flexin' for?" as the taser clicks. The cop then holsters the taser, tackles the man to the ground and punches him several times in the body and face, according to the video.

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said Sunday that he has seen video of the arrests and that one officer was placed on modified duty as a result of a preliminary internal investigation.

"It started out as a social distancing enforcement, there were three arrests made from that incident," Shea said during a Sunday press briefing. "I am aware of the video that's out there, it's being investigated currently by our internal affairs bureau."

In addition to the three arrests, NYPD officers issued 51 summonses for social distancing violations throughout New York City on Saturday, Shea said.

On Sunday, the Legal Aid Society called on the NYPD to release the names of police officers involved in the East Village arrests and to immediately discipline officers for acting as the aggressors in the incident.

"City Hall and the NYPD need to seriously reconsider social distancing enforcement that leads to escalations involving the use of tasers and violent assaults," Tina Luongo, Attorney-in-Charge of the Criminal Defense Practice at The Legal Aid Society, said in a statement. "What is equally disturbing is that some of these officers - who were ostensibly enforcing social distancing laws - were in violation of those same very laws themselves by not wearing protecting masks, endangering the lives of all New Yorkers around them."

The three people who were arrested in the East Village were later hit with multiple criminal charges, NYPD spokeswoman Mary Frances O’Donnell said. Shakiem Brunson, 31, was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and weapons and drug possession charges, Ashley Serrano, 22, was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and weapons possession and Donni Wright, 33, was charged with assaulting a police officer, menacing and resisting arrest, police said. Wright's charges stem from his taking a "fighting stance" while addressing cops, O’Donnell said in a statement.

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