New York Police Officer Charged with Assault

In the summer of 2008, Christopher Long attended a protest held in Times Square in New York City as part of a bike ride organized to promote alternatives to gas-fueled transportation. Another person at the protest happened to catch on video an incident which was later watched by some 1.6 million viewers on the Internet site YouTube — a New York Police Department (NYPD) patrolman singling out Long and body-checking him off his bike. He has been charged with assault, among other criminal charges. 

Cop's Assault and Falsification of the Report

Officer Patrick Pogan, 23, pleaded not guilty, Dec. 16, to two felony charges and three misdemeanors. He is accused of:

• knocking Long off his bicycle without provocation
• falsifying police records and filing a false instrument (the two felony charges)
• third-degree assault
• second-degree harassment
• making a punishable false statement 

Bicyclist Arrested for "Disorderly Conduct"

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said that Pogan, just three weeks out of the Police Academy, falsified details in his report regarding his arrest of Long, claiming that Long steered his bicycle into him and hurt him. Pogan also filed charges against Long including: 

• resisting arrest
• disorderly conduct
• obstructing government administration 

These charges were later dismissed.

YouTube Video Showed the Truth

D.A. Morgenthau's deputy noted that the YouTube video prompted the D.A.'s investigation of the incident. Long's attorney David Rankin said that "If it were not for that video, my client ... would most likely still be facing charges for assaulting an officer." 

Pogan is suspended from the police force. He could be dismissed from the force even if he were to be found not guilty of the criminal charges, because he is still in the probation period of his time with the NYPD.

(Source: MSNBC) 

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