New York – An 84-year-old man was beaten by police and sent to the hospital Sunday night for jaywalking at an Upper West Side intersection.
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The New York Post (http://bit.ly/1dNq7Sq) reports that Kang Wong was walking north on Broadway and crossing 96th Street at around 5 p.m. when a police officer told him to stop.
Witnesses say it appeared Wong did not understand the officer’s instructions.
“The guy didn’t seem to speak English. The cop walked him over to the Citibank. [The officer] stood him up against the wall and was trying to write him a ticket. The man didn’t seem to understand, and he started walking away,” said one witness, Ian King, a Fordham University law student.
“The cop tried to pull him back, and that’s when he began to struggle with the cop,” King continued. “As soon as he pushed the cop, it was like cops started running in from everywhere.”
Wong was handcuffed and taken to St. Luke’s Hospital. He was then taken to the 24th Precinct station house.
His 41-year-old son, a lawyer who would not give his name, stated the police called him at 6 p.m. to ask if Wong needed medication, but they would not tell his son which hospital Wong was in. His son went to the police station and finally found out where his father was. The police and the hospital would not let the son see Wong until after 10 p.m., stating that since he had not been admitted as a patient yet, he was a “prisoner.’’
Wong was charged with jaywalking, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and disorderly conduct. He was given a desk-appearance ticket.
Another son of Wong’s said the family “will probably press charges.’’
NYPD officials stated that the incident is under internal review.
They should kick him out of this country if he is not a citizen or permanent resident. At 85, he acts in usch way? That’s terrible… where is the Chinese wisdom? In their books, not in their heart.
I live near there, and have noticed a traffic cop and police car stationed there every morning. It is a dangerous intersection in that people cross when the traffic light turns red, even though the “Don’t Walk” sign is still on. (And it is still on because the cross street traffic gets a green arrow at this point allowing those cars to make the turn. So — people are regularly crossing, often dangerously.)
The traffic cop directs traffic at that point (but not on each of the four corners of the intersection) and the police car is situated so that the police officer inside can yell at people who are crossing against the light from the car speaker.
But — one could easily not be zoned into that, and be oblivious as to whom is being directed. The police officer is not looking at you, he/she is sitting in the car so it’s just a voice coming out from somewhere.
I say to justify why some folk might not be obeying the order from the police. It is not intentional.
Jay walking is so accepted in NYC — even when a cop is right there.
It goes without saying that an elderly person — or any person — should always be treated with respect and not beaten unnecessarily!
He pushed a cop. That’s never ok, no matter what language you speak.
Welcome to the new Deblasio administration.
And before you democrats start yelling – just remember that you blamed Giuliani for EVERYTHING. It’s our turn now.
Yesterday in Boro park on 13 ave and 40th st things almost got out of hand when TLC thugs tried stealing cars of innocent drivers claiming they were illegal car services. It was only thanks to the quick intervention of the 66 pct sergeant that the cars were not impounded. Stop and frisk must stop for all communities.
Proud of our finest in uniform…
whats wrong with the nypd? the problem is one doesnt need to qualify to be a cop any joe shmoe can walk in…thats why no one has any respect for cops they either write tickets all day or beat up elderly people for no reason.
Perhaps the cops could have used better judgement but I am sick of all these people crossing illegally with poor visibility. Many of the accidents happening could be partly the victims fault.
#3 If he truly pushed that cop he would have been charged with assault on a police officer.
For beating the old man the cop should at least be remanded to desk duty for using excessive force. How would you feel if your immigrant grandfather was beaten for misunderstanding the directions of a cop.
I hope there is a video of the incident.
I was under the impression that the “Dont Walk” light as just a suggestion in New York and never heard of anyone given a ticket for Jaywalking
Even cops in LA where ticketing for Jaywalking is commonplace gave me a break when they saw I was from Brooklyn
An elderly man who is obviously not responding well to orders from cops should be left alone and never subjected to this kind of treatment
I think it is a matter of proper training. Once a lawsuit is filed and the city is forced to pay a large amount of money this will take place
unfortunately this is how things work
Wong way?
Beating an 84 year old man is NEVER ok–illegal immigrant or not. Any police officer can overcome a man at that age. It shows an inherent disrespect for the elderly–If this 84 year old man did indeed push a cop, you want to tell me that it’s still ok to beat him? And by the way–that street is extremely dangerous–there have been many pedestrian accidents there–before DeBlasio–While I remain neutral on him, you can’t blame him for this–it has been an ongoing episode there. People don’t know/care how they cross the street and for that matter, motorist don’t care either. As I am both, I feel I can say this. When I stop for a red light I have cars honking behind me because I stopped “too early.” Because I know that a car weighs much more than I do, I always give right of way to a car even though I have the little white “mentchy” telling me that I actually have the right of way, but most cars don’t care–even if you’re pushing a baby carriage. This is true all over NYC–in all boros and in all kinds of neighborhoods.
When did we fall in love with fascism?
Since when is it alright to beat down an old man?
#acab
All police frinds with PBA cards coming out of the woodwork to defend the indefensible
A cop dosent have the right to hit a person for jaywalking, It Dosent matter if he is a citizens or dosent speak English,
And please don’t give us this nonsense “he pushed a cop”
This guy is 85 years old he can hardly push himself
This 20+ year old cop should have more respect for a old person not act like a punk
I’ll bet you he wont do that again!!
Ha ha ha. I have to laugh at the apparently unself-conscious hypocrisy once again being spewed by the helige yidden commenting here. If this were an elderly Jew rather than a Chinese man, you’d all be screaming about police brutality, anti-Semitism, etc. (Remember the Arthur Schick case in Boro Park a few years ago?) But because it’s a Chinese man, you’re firmly supportive of the cops. It reminds me of your two-faced stand on crime in general: if it’s a Jewish suspect (especially a frum one), you’re all a bunch of bleeding heart ACLU types, but if it’s a non-Jew, you’re suddenly law and order types who want to throw the book at him. And then you wonder why almost no one takes anything you say seriously.
For some reason I have a strong feeling this guy spoke English quite well. Unfortunately that’s the nature in that culture; when they need to get away with answering, pretend that you speak no English.
I bet there are cameras that taped this
Why didn’t they just stop & frisk him?
I was once stopped for jaywalking in my community, and given a warning; the cop was very nice about it. However, I’ve seen other instances, where cops stopped people for jaywalking, and were verbally abusive. In this particular scenario, the old man was probably confused, had language problems (not everybody, including many in the frum community speak English), and was frightened. He should not have given one of the cops a push; however, it did not give the cops the right to body slam him to the ground, as according to the law, and their own regulations, they are only supposed to use reasonable force. In this instance, it appears that they used excessive force. I saw photos on the NY Daily News website, of a bloody wound on the left forehead of the elderly Asian man. Something is rotten within the NYCPD. They tried the same tactics on Mr. Shick, owner of Shick’s bakery in Borough Park, in 2006. As a result of their brutality, a riot ensued!
I’m surprised that the NYPD didn’t beat the man to death. De Blasio has probably calculated that if the police beat a few people to death, word will get out and people will stop jaywalking. It may cost the city a few million to pay for the citizens killed by the cops, but he’ll be able to brag that he eliminated pedestrian deaths.
To #33 - In 1969, one of my friends who was retired from the military, had a pass for us to get into the Brooklyn Navy Yard, as he wanted to use the Post Exchange. On the way back, we hitchhiked. A very nice frum gentleman stopped and gave us a lift to the train station (I don’t remember which one). There are people who perform acts of chesed; however, the dumb NYCPD can’t seem to understand that!
It’s hard to know exactly what happened here, but I will tell you that sometimes, aging people can become very belligerent. Perhaps, that’s what the officer was responding to. Hard to believe that a policeman would beat up an old man for no reason.
Had this been the same exact story, by he was a haimisheh frum guy I bet the comments would be waaay in the other direction. Sad.
What would the response be if it was an old chassid beaten by the cops?