A New York City police officer is facing criminal charges for trying to arrest a man using a chokehold that was banned after the death of George Floyd, prosecutors said.
Officer Omar Habib, 40, was arrested Thursday on charges including strangulation, criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation and unlawful use of restraints, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said in a statement news
Habib was responding to a 911 call at a Bronx catering hall on July 29, 2023, when a drunk and disorderly man resisted arrest, Clark said.
The district attorney said Habib strangled the man so tightly that he stopped breathing and moving and caused him to die.
“The defendant allegedly violated his oath by using a technique to arrest a suspect that is specifically prohibited by New York City law,” Clark said. police officers to follow the law.”
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said Habib, who joined the department in 2007, has been suspended without pay.
Habib’s attorney, Jacob Z. Weinstein, said the officer “will be fully vindicated on all of these charges.”
“Like anyone else, police officers accused of crimes are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are entitled to due process and a fair hearing on the facts and the law,” said president of the Police Benevolent Association, Patrick Hendry, in a statement.
Habib was charged under a 2020 law passed by the New York City Council in response to Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, which made it a crime for police officers to use chokeholds or sit, kneel or stand on someone’s torso during an arrest.
The law was challenged by police unions, but was upheld by New York state’s highest court last year.
Clark said Habib is the first officer charged in the Bronx under the 2020 chokehold law.
The use of chokeholds by police was already prohibited in most cases by New York Police Department rules at the time the city law was enacted, but officers who used them rarely getting charged.
A police officer accused of using an illegal chokehold on Eric Garner, who died during his arrest in 2014, lost his city job but did not face criminal charges.
Prior to his recent arrest, Habib had a history of proven misconduct related to excessive force and abuse of authority. The department was previously cited for using a chokehold in 2017, an incident that later became the subject of news stories about officers continuing to use prohibited restraints.
Habib was also charged with lying under oath and tampering with evidence in a 2016 armed attack, which led to several defendants withdrawing their guilty pleas.
2024-08-10 03:04:32
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