Three men beaten by riot cops during 2005's West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn will receive $440,000 between them. O'Neil Bonner, Andre Essor and Sylvester Craig were in the vicinity of Church Avenue in the early hours of September 5, 2005 when NYPD officers showed up after reports of gunfire in the area. The lawsuit charged that they began swinging their batons at bystanders, and injured the three men.
Bonner will get $90,000 for a fractured cheekbone, Essor $175,000 for a broken elbow and Craig $175,000 for a torn knee ligament he said happened when he was pinned against a storefront by a police horse and beaten. The men apparently couldn't identify the cops responsible for their injuries because their faces were obscured by riot gear. Though the city will pay the men, city Law Department chief Fay Leoussis says, "The city admitted no wrongdoing whatsoever in this case." Well, what about the horse?
