MANHATTAN — The NYPD has determined that a high-ranking cop’s use of pepper spray on Occupy Wall Street protesters last month was not within department guidelines and he will be docked two weeks pay, officials said.
Video of the Sept. 24 confrontation between Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna and demonstrators near Union Square appears to show him pepper spray a group of mostly women on the sidewalk on a day when roughly 80 demonstrators were arrested.
Several protesters were penned in by police with orange netting, when Bologna appears to walk up and spray the women.
The video — which shows several women recoiling from the spray — went viral and helped galvanize the Occupy Wall Street protests into a global movement.
Another video of a second incident during the protest appears to show Bologna approaching people on a sidewalk — including one person wearing press credentials — and spraying in their direction before walking away.
Bologna was questioned for two hours by Internal Affairs about two weeks ago regarding the incident.
"Deputy Inspector Bologna is disappointed at the results of the department investigation,” said Roy Richter, president of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association, the union that represents Bologna.
“His actions prevented further injury and escalation of tumultuous conduct. To date, this conduct has not been portrayed in its true context."
A lawyer for one of the alleged victims, a 24-year-old teacher's aide, has asked the Manhattan District Attorney's office to arrest Bologna and charge him with assault.
