Named in 2 known lawsuits, $76,000 total settlements.
Davis, Henry vs City of New York, et al.
Case # 16CV01539,
U.S. District Court - Eastern District NY, May 26, 2016, ended February 1, 2018
$13,000 Settlement
Complaint
Description: On December 31, 2014, Plaintiff’s blind and elderly friend was being wrongfully and forcefully arrested by the police without identifying themselves. Plaintiff spoke to the officers to attempt to make sure that they understood that Mr. Ruffin was blind, and could not see who they were, but P.O.s arrested Plaintiff for speaking to them. They knocked Plaintiff to the floor, pepper sprayed him and attempted to tase him. The taser did not penetrate Plaintiff’s sweatshirt, but the pepper spray rendered me temporarily blind and was extremely painful. Plaintiff spent approximately 20 days in incarceration on false charges. All charges were ultimately dismissed 9 months later.
Ruffin, Claude, et al. vs City of New York, et al.
Case # 16CV01538,
U.S. District Court - Eastern District NY, May 26, 2016, ended February 1, 2018
$63,000 Settlement
Complaint
Description: On December 31, 2014, defendant police officers entered the Borden
Avenue Residence for the homeless and placed plaintiff in custody. Defendants did not verbally identify themselves as police. Defendants physically grabbed plaintiff and began to walk him into the corridor, down the hall and ultimately pushed him to the floor, injuring plaintiff's arm. Only when plaintiff felt the gun of one of the defendants on top of him did plaintiff realize
that he was dealing with police. Plaintiff was then arrested, and held for approximately 24 hours. All charges brought against plaintiff were eventually dismissed.