BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — A uniformed FDNY inspector pummeled a bodega employee and put him in a headlock, fracturing his skull, after the clerk asked him to move away from the store's cash register while he was conducting a fire safety inspection, according to a federal lawsuit and video of the incident.
Fire Prevention Inspector Eric Monk came into the store at 292 Nostrand Ave. in Brooklyn, where Ali Alkaifi was working as a cashier, around 9 a.m. on July 8, 2013 to inspect the business's fire safety system, the lawsuit says.
Alkaifi let him behind the counter, where Monk examined the shop's equipment and paperwork, but around 9:15 a.m., the clerk asked Monk to move away from the grill so co-worker Ali Doe could continuing working, court documents show.
Instead of moving, the fire inspector yelled at him to show some identification, which Alkaifi said he did not have, according Alkaifi's attorney Micah Kwasnik.
Monk then called 911 to get help from the police so he could give Alkaifi a summons for a fire violation and walked over to stand in front of the cash register while he was on the phone. Alkaifi asked him to move away, according to the civil complaint.
Monk raised his right elbow and walked directly and intentionally into Alkaifi after this request, at which point Alkaifi "instinctively raised his hands in a defensive position," the lawsuit states.
The video shows what happened next.
After a brief shoving match, Monk unleashes a series of punches, connecting four or five times with the bodega clerk's face and body, the recording shows.
The FDNY inspector then put Alkaifi in a headlock, lifted him off the ground and kicked him in the chest and head, repeatedly calling him the "n-word" throughout, according to the suit.
"When my client defensively raises his hands, to say essentially, 'What are you doing here?' That's when the inspector uses it as an excuse to pummel him," Kwasnik said.
Alkaifi suffered a fracture to his skull, contusions to his left eye and abrasions to his face as a result of the attack, and he told an ambulance that arrived on the scene that Monk had assaulted him, the suit says.
He was then taken out of the ambulance and confronted by two NYPD officers, who refused his request to file a complaint about the incident, repeatedly telling him to "relax" and saying that "everything will be OK," according to court papers.
The suit also alleges that FDNY and NYPD officers met at the 79th Precinct after leaving 292 Nostrand Ave. "to devise a common story, inconsistent with the truth, which would shield defendant Monk from civil and criminal liability, about what had happened."
Alkaifi was arrested at the hospital hours after the attack on charges of menacing, harassment and obstructing governmental administration, charges that were based on "maliciously and falsely lodged complaints" and dismissed a few months later, according to the suit.
He again tried to file a complaint about the incident with the NYPD on Oct. 12, but the officers again refused to let him do so, the lawsuit says.
An order of protection was also issued in favor of Monk against Alkaifi, and Monk sought compensation from the city for the injuries he suffered during the incident, the suit says.
The lawsuit does not ask for a specific amount of money.
The NYPD referred media requests to the FDNY, which referred callers to the Law Department.
A spokesman for the Law Department said the agency is reviewing the video and declined to comment further.
The fire department did not respond to questions about Monk's current employment status.
Monk is represented by attorney Special Hagan — not the city — who stressed that the items in the lawsuit were "just allegations."
"This took place some time ago, and we dispute his version of the facts," Hagan said.
Kwasnik maintains that this whole situation happened to Alkaifi because law enforcement officials discounted his worth as a human and felt that he was "just not important."
"He's someone that you can do this to, and there's not going to be any repercussions," he said.
