SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER!
 
 
Facebook Social Button Twitter Social Button Follow Us on InstagramYouTube Social Button
NewsScoresRankingsLucky Letcord PodcastShopPro GearPickleballGear Sale

Popular This Week

Net Notes - A Tennis Now Blog

Net Posts

Industry Insider - A Tennis Now Blog

Industry Insider

Second Serve - A Tennis Now Blog

Second Serve

 

Cop Who Body-Slammed Blake Now Plans To Sue Him


Two years ago, James Frascatore body-slammed James Blake on a Manhattan sidewalk.

Now, the 40-year-old officer plans to file a lawsuit against Blake, New York City, the NYPD and Harper Collins, which published Blake’s book, Ways of Grace, inspired in part by his false arrest during the 2015 US Open.

More: Blake Testifies in False-Arrest Case

Frascatore says he is suing because he has been falsely portrayed as a “racist goon” and because he suffered emotional distress becoming “very angry and upset” reading Blake’s book, which details the false arrest.

The officer, who was assigned to desk duty after the incident, defended his tackling of Blake to The New York Post saying he did not want to put the public at risk. Frascatore said he would take the same action again.

“I have a family to go home to. I’m on a crowded sidewalk, with a possibly armed suspect in the middle of 42nd Street,’’ Frascatore told The Post. “You have to take control of the situation. I can’t just be pulling out my gun.”

On September 9th, 2015, Blake was standing in front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in midtown Manhattan texting a friend while waiting for transportation to the US Open when plain-clothes officer Frascatore charged and body slammed Blake to the sidewalk. The officer handcuffed him for more than 10 minutes mistakenly believing Blake was a criminal in a credit card fraud case.

Initially, officers on the scene claimed Blake was only detained for about a minute.

Only when surveillance video from the Grand Hyatt security cameras showed the entire assault did then NYPD Commissioner William Bratton acknowledge Blake’s version of the incident was the truth.

Last month, Blake testified at an NYPD disciplinary hearing for Frascatore.

"It shouldn’t happen to me. It shouldn’t happen to anyone," Blake said. "There needs to be accountability for everybody."

Blake has called for Frascatore's firing. The Yonkers, NY native is not suing the NYPD or Frascatore.

"Everyone has seen this video. Nothing short of firing Frascatore would be justice," Blake said. "He had five complaints of excessive force in seven months in 2013 and that’s more than most officers have in their whole careers."

Frascatore testified he was told to arrest Blake by a detective and believed he was armed.

Photo credit: James Blake Tennis.com
 


Posted: