'I will never be the same': Brooklyn man sues NYPD over wrongful arrest

Timothy Brown, the Brooklyn man who was violently arrested by NYPD detectives after they mistakenly identified him as a drug dealer's associate, has filed a federal lawsuit against New York City, the detectives involved and their supervisors, alleging excessive force, false arrest and malicious prosecution.

The lawsuit, filed seven months after the April 14 encounter inside a Cobble Hill liquor store, seeks $100 million in damages and names Detectives Volkan Madden and Michael Algerio of the former Brooklyn North Narcotics Unit, according to Brown's legal team.

Brown, a 46-year-old home health aide, said he was simply stopping at his neighborhood liquor store to buy a bottle of wine after work when detectives wrongly accused him of being connected to a drug investigation. Video of the encounter, recorded by another customer and widely shared online, showed detectives violently taking Brown into custody.

The confrontation left Brown with a broken nose, a scalp hematoma and a knee wound that required stitches. His attorneys have also said he suffered fractured ribs, injuries to his arms and wrist, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Brown now walks with a cane and continues to receive treatment.

"I'm still in pain, certain areas of my body, and this is something we have to do. Justice has to be prevailed here. I want justice for what happened to me. It shouldn't happen to nobody else what happened to me. It was disgusting, and it was wrong, and they have to be punished," Brown said Tuesday.

According to the NYPD, undercover officers were looking for a man wearing a white shirt and green shorts when they encountered Brown. He was arrested and charged with resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration. Those charges were later dismissed by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office after police acknowledged Brown had been wrongly identified during the drug sweep.

The incident sparked widespread public outrage and prompted an internal review by the department. The NYPD subsequently disbanded the Brooklyn North narcotics unit involved in the case, reviewed training procedures and removed the guns of the detectives named in the lawsuit. The department declined to comment further on the litigation, pointing instead to the oversight measures enacted following the incident.

Brown's attorneys argue those actions fall short of accountability.

"We are now seven months later, and we still have no accountability for the detectives in this case. They are still on the job. They're still getting a salary. They're still building up their pensions. so, this is why police need to be held accountable," attorney Mina Malik said.

Attorney Derek Sells said Brown continues to suffer from lasting physical and emotional trauma.

"Mr. Brown is also suffering from PTSD, and he's being treated for that. This is something that has been life altering for him, and it's something that we seek justice for," Sells said.

Brown said he wants the officers involved removed from the force and hopes the lawsuit will prevent similar incidents from happening to others.

"These officers have to be punished for disorderly conduct and the wrongful arrests and hurting people, disrespecting people, and humiliating people for no reason. I'm an innocent man. It was wrong. I will never be the same," Brown said.

Sells said the video evidence leaves little doubt about what occurred.

"That video supplies all the proof in the world of the wrongdoing that those detectives committed, and yet they are still getting paid," he said.

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