Two 17-year-old girls sue NYPD for $3M, claim cops roughed them up close to their Brooklyn school
By Kerry Burke and CHRISTINA CARREGA
Akirah Taylor (with bandaged arm) and Breeyana Birkett, students at Cobble Hill School for American Studies, say they were approached by two NYPD officers on Jan. 11. (Aaron Showalter/New York Daily News)
A pair of 17-year-old girls are seeking a total of $3 million, claiming cops roughed them up — even breaking one of their arms — just half a block from their Brooklyn high school.
Akirah Taylor and Breeyana Birkett, students at Cobble Hill School for American Studies, say they were approached by two NYPD officers on Jan. 11. The cops stopped them and tried to arrest them for cutting school, the girls said.
"They came running at us, grabbing us," said Taylor, a senior and aspiring dance instructor. "They were rude, aggressive. They threw me to the ground, grabbed my hoodie and she put her knee in my back, cursing me out, saying things officers shouldn't say."
The girls said they had gone to store their cell phones at a nearby bodega, since the devices aren't allowed on the school's campus in Boreum Hill campus. That's when the cops started questioning them.
"They saw us check out phones, they knew we were going to school ... I feel disrespected," said Birkett, a junior.
The officers "repeatedly asked the girls to stop walking so that (they) could conduct a truancy investigation and both refused to do so," according to the criminal complaint charging the teens with obstruction of governmental administration.
"I kept saying 'you're hurting me, you're hurting me,' " Taylor said at a press conference on Thursday. "When I got to the precinct, my wrist was swollen. I couldn't move it."
Akirah's mother, Tyishah Graham, and the girls' attorney, Abe George, joined them for press conference. (Aaron Showalter/New York Daily News)
Taylor suffered a broken arm and is suing for $2 million while Birkett is seeking $1 million in damages, according to the notice of claim filed by their attorney Abe George on Wednesday.
"No child should be afraid to walk to school, let alone from the Police Department. This case cries out for better relations between the NYPD and the community," George said.
The teens say they were detained for 14 hours.
George is calling on prosectors to drop the charges.
"I'm scared of any police officers," Taylor said, noting that she was only going to school. "It's not like we were hanging out."
The NYPD declined comment, referring questions to the city Law Department. The Law Department referred inquiries to the city controller's office, which didn't respond.
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