DA Drops All Charges in Videotaped Police Beating
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
All charges have reportedly been dropped against Ehud Halevy, the unarmed man beaten by Brooklyn police inside a Crown Heights youth center earlier this month.
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes told reporters he was closing the case against Halevy, who was captured on videotape being pummeled by cops.
“After review of all available evidence, I have decided to dismiss the charges against Ehud Halevy,” Hynes announced Monday afternoon.
Outrage spread in the Jewish community and beyond after the videotape made headlines. It shows Halevy being beaten by two police officers, who apparently believed he was not supposed to be in the Aliya center.
An online petition calling for an investigation drew nearly 100,000 signatures. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly called the video “disturbing.”
Halevy had faced up to seven years in prison for supposedly assaulting the cops and resisting arrest.
“Justice was done here,” Halevy’s lawyer, Norman Siegel, told the Daily News. “There was no legal basis for the criminal charges and the dramatic video was extremely helpful.”
There was no word on any investigation into the officers’ behavior.
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