A New York City police officer was charged on Tuesday with assault and other crimes after separate Brooklyn episodes in which, prosecutors said, he slapped a handcuffed prisoner and threatened a man who complained about his driving.
Police Officer Quran McPhatter was indicted on charges of third-degree assault, official misconduct, third-degree attempted assault, third-degree attempted coercion and third-degree menacing, all misdemeanors.
“No one is above the law, and we will seek to hold him accountable through this prosecution,” Eric Gonzalez, the Brooklyn district attorney, said in a statement.
Officer McPhatter, 42, pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, was released without bail and is scheduled to return to court next month. He has been suspended without pay, the police said. A lawyer representing him did not respond to a call seeking comment.
Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, cautioned against “a rush to judgment” against Officer McPhatter, a 21-year Police Department veteran.
“This police officer is entitled to due process and a fair hearing based on all of the facts and the law,” Mr. Hendry said.
The first episode began one evening last August when a man saw a patrol car driving unsafely through a crowded area in Sunset Park, on 41st Street between Fifth and Seventh Avenues, prosecutors said. Officer McPhatter was at the wheel, prosecutors said.
When the man yelled at Officer McPhatter to slow down, the officer got out of the car and told the man to “mind his own business,” prosecutors said in a news release. When the man demanded Officer McPhatter’s badge number, the officer opened the car door, nearly hit the man, sprayed pepper spray on the ground and drove off, prosecutors said.
A short time later, the man went to the 72nd Precinct, where Officer McPhatter was assigned, to report him, prosecutors said. The man saw Officer McPhatter wearing street clothes in the precinct lobby and again asked for his badge number, prosecutors said.
“I am not giving you anything,” Officer McPhatter said, according to prosecutors. He then pushed his chest up against the man’s chest until a sergeant and other officers separated them, prosecutors said. Officer McPhatter threatened to knock the man out and told him to wait outside, prosecutors said.
The second episode, in October, was the basis for the assault charges, according to the indictment. Officer McPhatter and his partner were responding to an address on 58th Street in Brooklyn, prosecutors said, where they encountered a man who they believed was trespassing and told him to leave the area.
The officers returned to the address a half-hour later, and Officer McPhatter arrested the man, handcuffed him, berated him and threw him against the patrol car twice, prosecutors said.
As they drove to the 72nd Precinct, the man was antagonizing Officer McPhatter from the back seat, prosecutors said. At one point during the ride, prosecutors said, Officer McPhatter reached into the back of the car and grabbed the man’s glasses off his face.
When they arrived at the precinct, Officer McPhatter called the man “a big dummy” while bringing him to the desk sergeant, prosecutors said. When the man responded, Officer McPhatter slapped him in the face with an open hand and was immediately taken off the case by the sergeant, prosecutors said. The man was taken to a hospital, treated and released.
Officer McPhatter has been the subject of three misconduct complaints substantiated by the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the city’s police oversight agency. Five other complaints were unsubstantiated, board records show.
In the most recent substantiated complaint, from May 2024, he was accused of improper use of force and several abuses of authority, including improper use of a body-worn camera, records show.
Ed Shanahan is a rewrite reporter and editor covering breaking news and general assignments on the Metro desk.
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