NYPD Declines to Intervene as Welfare Client Attacks Officer
New York City NY December 21 2018
A client went berserk at a Manhattan welfare office Tuesday, attacking a city peace officer and resisting staff’s request to calm down by howling, “This ain’t f—–g Brooklyn!” — a reference to another recent brawl in a welfare office that ended with NYPD cops snatching a baby from his mother’s arms.
A peace officer suffered a broken wrist in the Tuesday fracas — and cops, when called, showed up but declined to get involved, according to an internal report of the altercation obtained by the Daily News.
“We don’t know what to do,” an NYPD officer said upon arriving at the chaotic scene, the report said. Human Resources Administration officers were forced to make the arrest when cops opted to stand down.
The violence erupted late Tuesday at HRA’s Dyckman Jobs Center in Inwood, when client Davaun Fournillier, 27, became enraged at an HRA worker trying to resolve his benefits issues and swept a computer off her desk.
Staff called in HRA peace officers, who entered the area in time to witness Fournillier smashing the computer with his fist. That caused a bloody wound to his hand, and a peace officer captain offered to call EMS.
“F–k EMS!” Fournillier shouted, the report states.
When he was offered the chance to leave the building without being arrested, Fournillier refused, the report alleges.
Instead, he shouted, “This is not Brooklyn and my child’s in the waiting area! You’re not f—–g touching … This ain’t f—–g Brooklyn.”
When the HRA captain tried to calm him down, Fournillier allegedly shouted, “I’m punching somebody in the face if I don’t get services!”
The man’s daughter was escorted away from the scene by a staffer as NYPD officers arrived at the scene. The HRA captain suggested to the cops that they take custody of the child and contact the mother.
“NYPD officers responded by stating, ‘We don’t know what to do, do we call ACS (the city’s child welfare office) or not?’” the report states.
The NYPD officers declined to contact the mother or take custody of the child, so the HRA staff stepped in and asked the child’s mother to come to the office, the report says.
When the HRA captain attempted to handcuff Fournillier, he attacked the captain.
He grabbed the officer’s right hand “and twisted it causing a snap in a popping noise,” the report said.
Fournillier began flailing about but the captain and another HRA officer wrestled him to the ground and cuff him, the report states.
An NYPD officer at the scene was briefed on the situation “and referred the case to HRA PD.”
“NYPD took no further action and exited the location,” the report notes.
The HRA captain was taken by EMS to Harlem Hospital for treatment of a broken wrist.
The mother of Fournillier’s child was called to the HRA office to take custody of their daughter. The report states that she was advised twice to take the child out of the facility so the child wouldn’t witness her father being arrested, which she did.
HRA officers escorted Fournillier to the 34th Precinct, where he was charged with second-degree assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest, criminal mischief, obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct harassment and trespass.
After he was booked, Fournillier was brought to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation. He was set to be arraigned in Manhattan criminal court Wednesday.
The Brooklyn incident Fournillier was shouting about occurred Dec. 7, when client Jazmine Headley got into a confrontation with HRA staff as she was sitting on the floor at a welfare center in Boerum Hill, waiting for hours to resolve a benefit question. Video captured at the scene that later went viral shows an NYPD cop wrestling her 1-year-old son from her arms and then arresting her.
The incident triggered widespread outrage and two HRA peace officers involved in the fracas were suspended without pay. The NYPD took no action against the cops involved, including one who waved a Taser at the gathering crowd and the cop who pulled the baby from Headley’s arms.
Mayor de Blasio has criticized the HRA peace officers but said nothing about the NYPD cops involved in that incident. Headley has notified the city she intends to sue.
Greg Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, which represents the city’s HRA peace officers, blasted de Blasio and Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks, charging that their quick decision to blame HRA officers for the Brooklyn incident contributed to a landscape that is now undermining their ability to do their jobs.
“Mayor de Blasio and Steve Banks have created an atmosphere for the HRA officers to become punching bags. First, they’re not attending to how long people wait, which is the cause of these problems, and then not supporting our officers,” Floyd said.
Lourdes Centeno, a spokeswoman for HRA, said, “Every day, officers do extraordinary work on behalf of our city. This was an unprovoked attack on an officer and we will investigate this matter immediately and take appropriate action.”
New York Daily News
