Crime & Safety
$565K Awarded To Man Put In Chokehold By NYPD Officer In Inwood
The Legal Aid Society announced Wednesday that Tomás Medina has settled with the city for over $560K.
INWOOD, NY — The city awarded Tomás Medina on Wednesday a $567,500 settlement more than three years after he was put in a chokehold and tased multiple times in Inwood by Fabio Nunez, a long-time officer of the 34th Precinct.
Both the chokehold and misuse of a taser by Nunez were substantiated in 2019 by the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
"Being attacked by the NYPD was one of the scariest things to ever happen to me. I could have died. What they did to me, and what they do to so many other people is not okay, but I take some comfort in knowing that Detective Nunez is no longer a police officer and that both he and the City have to pay for what they did to me," said Tomás Medina, in a news release.
Find out what's happening in Washington Heights-Inwoodfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The incident in question took place on July 14, 2018, when Nunez and his partner responded to a noise complaint about Medina playing music under the elevated train line on 206th Street, near 10th Avenue.
When Nunez confronted Medina, he turned off the music, but it didn't stop the situation from turning ugly after he asked the Queens resident for his ID. It ended with Medina getting placed in a chokehold for 23 seconds, according to a video. You can watch the video of the interaction or read about the complete chain of events here.
Find out what's happening in Washington Heights-Inwoodfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Nunez has been the subject of 37 allegations of misconduct over his career as an officer and has been the subject of five previous lawsuits that cost the city more than $220,000.
In April 2021, it was announced that Nunez agreed to retire and be stripped of all his accrued vacation and overtime pay as a result of the Inwood incident, but would not face a disciplinary trial.
“While this settlement will never completely right the injustice that Tomás Medina suffered or dismantle the NYPD’s culture of impunity for excessive force, it does provide some closure and sends a message to the NYPD that violence against civilians will be met with consequences,” said Molly Griffard, Cop Accountability Project Fellow at The Legal Aid Society, in a news release. “So long as the NYPD brutalizes our clients, we will continue to seek accountability and an end to NYPD violence.”
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