An NYPD cop was found guilty Friday of “gratuitously” stomping on a suspect’s head like he was a “roach’’ while he was being cuffed during a pot bust gone bad.
Joel Edouard stared blankly ahead as Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Alan
Marrus found he was guilty of the top charge of misdemeanor third-degree assault for bashing Jahmi-El Cuffee.
Edouard faces a sentence of probation to up to a year in jail at his June 10 court appearance.
“He let down his fellow officers by losing his composure. He gratuitously stomped on the head of Jahmi-El Cuffee,” Marrus said when he rendered his verdict in the bench trial.
“There are many uncontested facts,” the judge said. “Ninety-nine percent are
undisputed. Prosecutors proved there was physical injury.”
The 38-year-old Nassau County resident had also faced a lesser charge of attempted assault.
“This police officer, in broad daylight and in front of a crowd of people, stomped on the head of a suspect while he lay on the ground, subdued and surrounded by other officers,” Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson said in a statement. “His conduct was simply outrageous.”
The 81st Precinct cop was caught on camera assaulting the 20-year-old after he and his partner spotted him drinking and smoking pot on Malcolm X Boulevard in Bed-Stuy in July 2014.
Cuffee resisted arrest and tussled with the officers before backup arrived, according to the DA’s office.
Edouard brifly pointed his gun at the suspect, who was face down, before stomping on his head, the district attorney said.
Cuffee, whose head hit the concrete, later suffered dizziness, headaches and nausea.
“I used my foot, yes sir…I restrained his hand with my foot,” Edouard testified this week, denying that he had stepped on Cuffee’s head.
The cop’s attorney, Anthony Ricco, said Thursday that his client only “used his foot to stop [Cuffee’s] hand’’ and claimed prosecutors doctored pictures showing injuries to the victim’s head instead.