Brooklyn DA Drops Charges Against Arrested Postal Worker

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson has dismissed the outstanding charges against Glenn Grays, an on-duty U.S. postal worker who was arrested in Crown Heights by four plainclothes cops on March 17.

“In the interest of justice I asked the Court to dismiss the disorderly conduct charge against Glen Grays," Thompson said in a statement released Thursday.

Kenneth E. Ramseur, Grays' attorney, described him as "delighted and greatly relieved" by Thompson's decision.

Grays' arrest was brought to public attention by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who held a press conference decrying it on March 23.

“From the first moment I viewed the cell phone video footage of the questionable arrest, it was evident that he endured a clear miscarriage of justice," Adams said in a statement Thursday. "The lives of young men of color hang in the balance when fundamental violations of one’s civil rights are allowed to persist unchecked."

Filmed by a pedestrian, video of the arrest showed Grays, 27, being confronted on President Street by the four officers as he was delivering a package.

According to an account provided by Adams, Grays had nearly been struck by the officers' car moments before as he crossed the street, and "made comments, as any New Yorker would do."

The video shows the officers demanding Grays' identification. When he declined, he was arrested, leaving his postal truck idling and unsecured in the street.

In a March interview with CBS, Grays said he "was extremely terrified" by the officers' actions. He also said the car he was driven away in rear-ended another vehicle on its way to the police station, causing him to fly forward and strike his face and shoulder on the car's front seat.

Ramseur, Grays' attorney, confirmed that on Thursday, adding that his client was not buckled at the time of the incident.

Grays has undergone physical therapy on his shoulder and hasn't been back to work since his arrest, for both physical and emotional reasons, Ramseur said, though he added the U.S.P.S. employee will likely return to his rounds next week.

"This has been a devastating thing to him," Ramseur said of the March incident, explaining that despite having grown up in a tough neighborhood, Grays "never got arrested before."

Grays told CBS that he wanted "disciplinary action" taken against the officers, be didn't ask for them to be fired, noting that they may have families to support.

Ramseur said he'll talk with his client next week about whether to take legal action against the NYPD.

Within days of the arrest, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton initiated an investigation, and removed the four officers — identified in reports as Lt. Luis D. Machado, Miguel I. Rodriguez, Lazo Lluka and David G. Savella — from their specialized unit pending its conclusion. However, all initially remained on active duty.

According to a report in The New York Times, three of the officers had previously been sued for civil rights abuses. (Ramsuer said Rodriguez was driving the police car that crashed on March 17, injuring Grays.)

Bratton told the press that he was "not pleased with what I saw, the actions of our officers," adding that he wanted to know why the officers were out of uniform.

Several days later, the commanding officer on the scene, Machado, was stripped of his badge and gun and placed on modified duty. According to DNAinfo, he was an 11-year veteran of the NYPD.

A February, 2015 report on the news blog CrownHeights.info covered a ceremony where Machado was celebrated after helping arrest a suspect accused of multiple Crown Heights shootings.

On Thursday, NYPD spokesman Lt. John Grimpel said Machado "was placed on modified duty and is facing departmental charges," while Rodriguez, Lluka, and Savella "were disciplined internally and transferred from the 71 Precinct."