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Rappers Say Police Used Excessive Force in Orchard Street Club Melee

By Patrick Hedlund | June 30, 2011 4:11pm | Updated on June 30, 2011 6:08pm

By Patrick Hedlund and Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Staff

LOWER EAST SIDE — Hip-hop artists involved in a street melee between club-goers and police said the NYPD used excessive force to break up a crowd outside an Orchard Street music venue.

The incident occurred early Wednesday at Tammany Hall, at 152 Orchard St., where rappers Smif-N-Wessun and Pete Rock were hosting an album release party that turned violent, police said.

The fracas was sparked when police arrived at the scene after getting a call from security at the club to help with a crowd of 25 to 30 people "throwing beer bottles, a sandwich board and anything else that they could get their hands on at each other," said Paul Browne, the NYPD's top spokesman.

Police said that one concert-goer who refused to leave the venue and resisted arrest yelled for others to help him fight the officers, leading a large crowd to form and start scuffling with police.

A joint statement from the rappers claimed officers "hurried into the club and began macing and assaulting individuals inside the club, dragging one of them out and pummeling him directly in front of the club."

Five officers were hurt in the dust-up, receiving injuries ranging from a broken tooth, broken nose, facial lacerations and contusions to the head, police said.

Five people, including Rock's stepdaughter, were arrested and hit with charges including assault, disorderly conduct, obstruction of government affairs and inciting a riot, police added.

An attorney representing the five arrested claimed police stormed the venue unprovoked and detained the individuals using excessive force.

Lawyer Kenneth Montgomery said police dragged one of the arrested men outside and started punching him, setting off the chain of events.

"[Police] started cursing people out and touching them, shoving them," he said.

Gabriel Diaz, 27, Lewis Pena, 35, Cynthia Rosa, 21, and Jade Everette, 24, were all arraigned on assault charges Thursday at Manhattan Criminal Court.

Jessy Ayala, 32, was arraigned on charges of obstruction of governmental adminstration for refusing to move while recording the incident, according to the criminal complaint.

They all denied any violence among party-goers prior to police arriving, noting that two men got into a verbal squabble after being turned away by security.

Ayala, who was part of Rock's camera crew, claimed cops descended on him when they saw him filimg the incident.

"Get the cameraman! Arrest the cameraman!" he claimed officers said.

Diaz punched three police officers in the face, fracturing one's nose, and was also charged with marijuana possession, the complaint said.

Pena elbowed an officer in the face during a struggle with police, breaking his tooth, the complaint added.

"They threw me on the floor and they kept beating me down," Pena said. "Then they cuffed me on the floor and they maced me."

Rosa choked and scratched an officer with her nails while attempting to prevent Pena from being arrested, and Everette punched another officer repeatedly in the head while trying to prevent another arrest, according to the complaint.

Videos of the incident showing party-goers tussling with police spread online soon after the event, with the performers themselves weighing in on Twitter.

"IT WAS LIKE 10 COPS BEATING ON 1 MAN,BILLIE CLUBS AND ALL THAT!" Pete Rock tweeted Wednesday.

"COPS WERE BEATING PEOPLE UP AND ITS ALL ON FILM!!!!" he added.