Mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts as viral footage shows NYPD officers using force against a man wrongly identified in a drug operation during a Brooklyn sting
Two NYPD narcotics detectives were put on modified duty after a viral video showed them punching and kicking a man they had arrested, who ultimately was not the suspect they were seeking, according to police.
The clip captured the brutal Tuesday scene inside the BK Wine Depot Corp on Hoyt Street near Baltic Street in Cobble Hill – where the plainclothes Brooklyn North Narcotics pair punched, kicked and dragged the suspect, knocking over bottles of alcohol and leaving streaks of blood on the floor.
One cop could be seen stomping on the floor near the suspect’s head, but it wasn’t clear whether he actually made contact with the man.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the footage as “deeply disturbing,” and said the scene is under active investigation by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau.
“The officers in question are modified,” Tisch posted on X. “Their guns and shields have been removed.”
“I understand the community interest in it because it is an upsetting video,” she said earlier, during an unrelated briefing.
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that two NYPD narcotics officers are under investigation after being caught on video punching and kicking a suspect during an arrest at a Brooklyn liquor store.Instagram/@sinistratm
Mayor Zohran Mamdani slammed the behavior of the officers seen in the clip.
“The violence used by NYPD officers in this video is extremely disturbing and unacceptable. Officers should never treat a person this way. The NYPD is conducting a full investigation into this incident,” Hizzoner wrote on X.
The man, identified as Timothy L. Brown, 46, told CBS New York he simply went into the store to buy wine when the detectives cornered him.
“He said, ‘You’re under arrest,’” Brown told the network. “I remember being grabbed and shoved and he said, ‘Don’t resist.’ And I say, ‘I’m not resisting.’
“They slammed me up against the glass, you know, repeatedly hitting me in the temple, in my head, you know? You see my eye’s black,” he added. “Several bottles were broken in the liquor store because they swung me and they actually dragged me on the floor [on the] glass, and that can be seen on camera.”
The shocking ordeal unfolded a short time after detectives conducted “a planned and supervised undercover operation” targeting drug sales in the area, after receiving numerous community complaints, police said.
During the operation, one of the cops successfully purchased crack cocaine from alleged drug seller Joshua Ramos, who was arrested, authorities said.
There are a number of videos circulating online of an incident that occurred yesterday inside a store in Brooklyn involving two members of the NYPD.
— Jessica S. Tisch (@NYPDPC) April 15, 2026
As I said at a press conference earlier today, these videos are deeply disturbing, and the matter is under active investigation…
The drug money was ultimately provided to another man, described as a black male wearing a white shirt and green shorts, cops said.
A short time later, the investigators spotted a man who matched that description directly across the street from the scene of the sale, police said.
They approached him, identified themselves as members of the NYPD, and tried to arrest him inside the liquor store before the skirmish unfolded, according to authorities.
Tisch described the footage as “deeply disturbing.”Paul Martinka for NY Post
The footage shows the detectives ordering the suspect to put his hand or arm behind his back and to stop resisting – as bystanders chimed in that the man never resisted and asked the cops for their badge numbers.
“They f–ked this guy up for no reason,” one woman could be heard saying, apparently on the phone with 911.
“There’s a reason,” one of the cops snapped back. “You don’t resist arrest.”
Brown was initially taken into custody and slapped with a desk appearance ticket for resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration – charges that the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office confirmed were ultimately dropped.
The bloodied man was not charged with any drug-related offenses because it turned out he was never involved in the sale, cops said.
“The violence used by NYPD officers in this video is extremely disturbing and unacceptable. Officers should never treat a person this way,” Mamdani said on X.Instagram/@sinistratm
“I got a security license in my pocket,” Brown could be heard pleading on the video. “I was going to work. I swear to God!”
NYPD unions defended the pair of detectives, while condemning the mayor’s prompt call for an investigation.
“We don’t know why the mayor is bothering to call for an investigation when he has already rushed to condemn the NYPD members involved without knowing all the facts,”
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said in a statement. “As we have said before, the mayor’s words matter. He should not publicly prejudge any incident involving police officers.”
“NYPD detectives put their lives on the line daily, doing the dangerous work politicians would never have the courage to do,” added Detectives’ Endowment Association President Scott Munro. “Narcotics detectives arrest you and tell you to put your hands behind your back and don’t comply, what do you think happens? We deserve all the facts before anyone rushes to judgment.”
Meanwhile, Brown told CBS he’s grateful to have survived the violent arrest.
“I just thank God that I’m alive. That’s all I can say,” he said. “I know there’s a reason for everything and I know God’s watching and I want justice.”
Brown told CBS he’s grateful to have survived the violent arrest.Instagram/@sinistratm
Brown’s neighbor, Sharon Roper, 70, told The Post that Brown is an employed man who is “funny [and] considerate.”
“He’s loud but don’t deserve that,” Roper said. “He’s never hurt nobody.”
“They knew they messed up,” she said of the detectives. “It’s sad….Video don’t lie.”
Another neighbor, Twonne Cheatham, 52, said Brown’s mother was devastated after watching the video.
“She was distraught to see that happened to her son,” Cheatham said. “That could have been any one of us.”
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