Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Musicians Arrested After Throwing Beer Can at NYPD Car, Police Say

By Allegra Hobbs | June 23, 2017 4:02pm | Updated on June 25, 2017 4:16pm
 Two musicians were arrested at a block party outside The Cast on Orchard Street in a show of force venue owners called excessive.
Two musicians were arrested at a block party outside The Cast on Orchard Street in a show of force venue owners called excessive.
View Full Caption
The Cast

LOWER EAST SIDE — A rock n' roll block party on Orchard Street on Wednesday afternoon erupted in chaos when police arrived at what they describe as an unruly scene and ended up arresting two musicians for harassment and other charges.

But the musicians who were arrested and several witnesses — who recorded the altercation on cellphone video circulated on social media — say the rockers were innocent and were subjected to aggressive and "overly abusive" tactics by law enforcement that included officers yanking one of the musicians out of the vehicle's open window and onto the pavement with his hands cuffed behind his back, leaving him with scrapes and bruises and his bandmate with chipped front teeth. 

Other witnesses, meanwhile, say the musicians provoked the police by hurling objects at them before the arrests took place.

Police and prosecutors said drummer Isa Dorian Tineo, 24, and bassist Sidney Simmons, 21, of local band Beechwood were playing a set at the annual Make Music NYC party outside leather shop The Cast at 74 Orchard St. around 6:45 p.m. when, police pulled up and asked the crowd gathered in the street to disperse, according to a criminal complaint.

The complaint is based on the account of police officer Christopher Kearney, who made the arrests with police officer Stephen Patti, both of the 7th Precinct.

Police  and witnesses say Tineo picked up a beer can and hurled it at the police car, striking near the passenger-side window and spraying beer on one of the officers.

When the officer approached Tineo to cuff him, the drummer resisted arrest and pushed the officer in the chest, causing him to fall backward, the complaint states.

Tineo was cuffed by the two officers and put in the car.

Police said Simmons had opened the back door of the police car to let Tineo out, then spat in an officer's face and resisted arrest by pushing the officer and moving his arms away, according to his criminal complaint.

Witnesses told DNAinfo that Tineo lashed out at police after they pulled up to ask the crowd to move, sparking the tumultuous arrests.

"The police are correct. ... Watched the whole thing from before it started until the end of the next band," witness Kelli McNamara wrote to DNAinfo in an email. "The police pulled up to clear the street. ... The drummer threw a beer at the police when they got out of the car and then the rest ensued."

A waitress at adjacent Austrian eatery Cafe Katja said she didn't see Tineo throw a can of beer, but did see him hurl his drum sticks at the police during what she described as a dizzying sequence of events.

"Things happened so fast — I just saw one of the drummers throw drum sticks at the police, but I don't know what caused that," said Naomi Le, adding she believes that while band members provoked police, the officer still responded in an overly aggressive manner.

"At the end of the day, I just saw how the arrests happened and I just saw the drum sticks flying, but I don't know what really happened. All I can say is it was handled poorly at both ends."

Band leader Gordon Lawrence and Tineo said the police version of events is wildly incorrect — and said they plan to file a lawsuit against the police department on the grounds of excessive force.

"There were two ways of handling that, and they made it a violent situation," said Lawrence. "They escalated it into what it was."

Tineo said he had drained the last of his beer from a red solo cup before tossing it into the crowd with no intention of striking the police car — the next thing he knew, he was being held by his neck against the leather shop's glass window.

"I didn't know anything was going on 'til I was being brutally ripped off my drum set...he threw me by my neck against the window and arrested me," he told DNAinfo New York.

He said he was put in the back of the police car, then saw Simmons being wrestled to the ground by an officer armed with a Taser, and attempted to stick his head out of the car window to better see what was happening to his bandmate. At that point, he said, the other officer grabbed him and pulled him out of the car window and onto the ground. 

 

A post shared by ian casey esq (@jarjarstinks77) on

"He got dragged off out of sight, so I didn't know where they took him, I just saw him get dragged by the police...I look out the other window of the car and I see there's a Taser out and a cop on top of him," he said.

"Next thing I remember is being ripped out of the window of the cop car and being slammed on the floor," he continued. "I got some good scrapes and bruises from that one. The cop was on top of me. I remember I couldn't f--king breathe and all I remember is people taking pictures, with their cameras out."

The commanding officer of the 7th Precinct blamed event organizers — who allowed unsanctioned drinking in the street — and poor security for escalating the situation, and said that his officers were the ones in danger.

"Although it is a permitted event, the event company as well as the establishment violated all the stipulations by having open alcohol containers and drinking outside on the street as well as low-level drug use and insufficient or no security, and [I am] looking into notifying [the Street Activity Permit Office] in regards to this blatant disregard for proper procedure,” said Deputy Inspector Steve Hellman.

"Their lack of handling the agreed stipulations under the permit led to a hostile environment that put my police officers in danger."

The Cast has been in the Lower East Side since 2004 and has hosted Make Music NYC every year for the past five or six years, said the shop owners, who said the party was a family event that included their young children and that they were disturbed to watch the arresting officers act aggressively towards slight-framed musicians.

"It was just excessive what happened...they absolutely thrashed them around," said Elisa Maldonado, who runs The Cast with her husband Chuck Bones, adding she saw the arresting officers grab Tineo roughly by the neck and put him against the venue's glass wall.

"He was still drumming as they had their hands around his throat," she said.

In a post on the shop's Facebook page, The Cast management described the encounter as "abusive."

Tineo has been charged with attempted assault and criminal mischief, while Simmons was charged with obstructing government administration; both were charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and harassment. 

They were both released without bail. Tineo is due back in court Aug. 2 and Simmons’ next court date is Aug. 9. 

Tineo's attorney did not immediately return a request for comment. Simmons' attorney declined to comment when reached by phone.