NEW YORK — An NYPD union may sue the 19-year-old woman who tried to interfere with her boyfriend’s arrest for attempted-murder in Harlem — and was slugged by a city cop as a result.
The Detectives Endowment Association is exploring a possible civil suit against Tamani Crum for slapping and shoving Detective Kendo Kinsey as her boyfriend was being taken into custody, the union’s president said Thursday.
“Criminals in New York have grown accustomed to there being no consequences for their dangerous, illegal actions,” DEA President Paul DiGiacomo said. “But when you assault a New York City detective in order to interfere with an arrest of a man armed with a gun there are repercussions.”
During the wild caught-on-camera melee, Kinsey punched Crum in the face, knocking her onto the sidewalk.
“You just hit a little girl!” one onlooker is heard screaming on the viral video. “You’re wilding, bro!”
Relatives said Crum was knocked unconscious and was dazed as cops took her into custody for assaulting a police officer, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest. The teen was treated at a hospital Wednesday for unspecified injuries from the knockout punch, said a liaison to the Rev. Al Sharpton.
But at arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday night, Crum was released without having to post bail after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office reduced the charges to a misdemeanor count of obstructing governmental administration.
Video posted to Twitter shows police officers arresting Crum’s boyfriend, Elvin James, on W. 136th St. near Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. just before 5 p.m. Tuesday. Crum appears in the frame and slaps at Kinsey — who responds by walloping her in the head.
Crum fell backward to the pavement before police picked her up.
“He cold knocked her out,” Julia Crum, Tamani’s grandmother, told the Daily News at a press conference outside the 32nd Precinct Wednesday. “He’s not better than the people who are knocking people out in the street. ... He should never have put his hands on her or any female. He’s wrong. He’s wrong. He’s wrong.”
Kinsey, who is Black, and other cops were arresting James in connection with an Aug. 12 attempted murder case. Cops recovered a handgun and a baggie with 20 Oxycodone pills from James after taking him into custody.
The 22-year-old was charged with resisting arrest and gun and drug possession and was ordered held on $300,000 bail, according to court documents. He was not immediately charged with the attempted murder he is suspected of committing.
As of Thursday, Kinsey hadn’t been disciplined for Tuesday’s clash. The incident was “under internal review,” an NYPD spokesman said.
Mayor Adams, an ex-NYPD officer, encouraged New Yorkers to wait for an investigation before jumping to conclusions about what happened, noting the officers were in the “high stressful environment” of arresting an armed suspect, and commended them for getting a gun off the streets.
“It’s a lot of madness going on. This is not just something that is a theatrical performance. This is real danger. This person was wanted for murder.,” said Adams, misstating the charge. “This person had a loaded gun.”
