NYPD officer Philip Fioranelli was criminally charged with misconduct Wednesday for sitting on a handcuffed detainee and spraying pepper spray in his mouth and eyes.
Fioranelli appeared briefly before Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Michelle Rodney and was released on his own recognizance. He pleaded not guilty to one count of official misconduct.
Prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney’s police accountability unit say the incident occurred on May 18 when Fioranelli was working a paid security shift in uniform at a lower Manhattan parking garage.
The day before, the alleged victim, Aqil Alshimary, bought a multi-day parking ticket, which he refused to provide when he came to pick up the vehicle.
A security supervisor called Fioranelli, who told the man to leave, to no avail, leading to a skirmish during which the cop tripped over a bicycle rack, according to the description of CCTV footage in court papers.
Prosecutors say Fioranelli then pulled out his NYPD-issued firearm, and Alshimary immediately complied with his orders, laying face-down with both hands behind his back. The cop then mounted the detainee and straddled him with one leg on either side before unholstering his pepper spray and spraying multiple bursts in Alshimary’s eyes and mouth.
“[Fioranelli] then used his own hand to spread and rub the O.C. chemicals around Alshimary’s face. Over the next few seconds, [Fioranelli] deployed additional bursts from close range into Alshimary’s face – in the process, exposing himself to the O.C. Spray chemicals and inadvertently rubbing them into his own eyes – before returning the canister to its holster,” prosecutors wrote in court papers.
“Approximately two minutes later, “[Fioranelli] again took out the O.C. Spray and deployed it directly in Alshimary’s face.”
The cop stayed atop the detainee for more than three-and-a-half minutes, “intermittently and gratuitously yanking at the neck” of his sweatshirt, pulling at his handcuffed arms and putting pressure on his back as a complying.
The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau suspended Fioranelli following the incident. He and his lawyer had no comment leaving court.
Alshimary was charged with misdemeanor assault and harassment following the skirmish with the cop in a case he resolved in October. He could not be reached for comment.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
This developing story will be updated.
