Officer Indicted For Allegedly Intimidating Man Following Assault In Coney Island

Pamela Wong -
Brooklyn Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street (Photo by Pamela Wong/BKLYNER)

CONEY ISLAND – Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced that a NYPD Officer was arraigned today on charges of misdemeanor assault and intimidating a witness.

Shortly after midnight on Saturday, July 8, in the vicinity of Mermaid Avenue and West 32nd Street in Coney Island, 30-year-old Police Officer O’Keefe Thompson (who was on duty and in uniform) ordered 23-year-old Raymond Crespo to pick up a plastic cup that a friend had knocked out of his hand. An argument ensued when Crespo refused the officer’s request, according to the investigation. Thompson then allegedly threw Crespo up against the door of a nearby bodega, knocked him to the ground, and dragged him across the sidewalk.

Crespo was reportedly on the ground motionless when Thompson grabbed him, dragged him several more feet and said, “Don’t you know that I’m from the Ville (referring to Brownsville)?,” the investigation states. The incident was filmed by a nearby surveillance camera.

Following the incident, Crespo went home, went to bed, and woke up with a headache and swollen face. He went to Coney Island Hospital where he was treated for swelling and bruising to the face and possible concussion symptoms. Crespo filed a complaint against Thompson after being discharged from the hospital later that day.

At approximately 2:30am on July 9, following his shift, Thompson went to Crespo’s neighborhood dressed in plain clothes. Thompson allegedly approached Crespo, showed him a gun hidden in his waistband and said, “Why are you [expletive] on my name? Do you know what I’m going to do to you?,” according to the investigation.

Bystanders were able to separate the two men. The confrontation was also filmed by a nearby surveillance camera.

Thompson was released on his own recognizance and is scheduled to return to court on November 29. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

“Police officers risk their lives every day to keep us all safe. However, this defendant crossed the line by allegedly assaulting a man and later threatening him,” Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said in a statement. “Such conduct is not only unacceptable, it undermines public trust in our justice system and will not be tolerated in Brooklyn.”