On Wednesday, Blake was tackled and handcuffed after being mistaken for a credit card fraud suspect. NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton personally apologized on Thursday.
The New York Police Department released video on Thursday of former tennis star James Blake being tackled by a plainclothes detective outside of a Manhattan hotel:
On Wednesday, Blake was misidentified by a police informant during an NYPD sting to crack down on people using fraudulent credit cards. While standing outside the Grand Hyatt hotel in midtown Manhattan, waiting for a car to go to the US Open, the detective sprinted at Blake, grabbed, him, pushed him against a column, then tackled him to the ground.
At no point does Blake appear to resist.
Courtesy of NYPD
The above video shows that the detective grabbed Blake to throw him to the ground as soon as he approached him. In comments to the New York Daily News, Blake said he saw the man running at him, but thought he might have been an old friend from Harvard.
Blake was held on the ground in handcuffs for approximately fifteen minutes before being let go upon showing his ID and US Open credentials.
NYPD opened an investigation into the incident immediately, and on Thursday it was announced that the initial officer who threw Blake to the ground was stripped of his gun and placed on desk duty. The NYPD officer's union opposed the quick move to modify the detective's assignment.
During a press conference Thursday, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said "the use of force was such that I'm comfortable that it's in the best interest of the department to place the officer on modified assignment as the investigation moves forward."
Thursday afternoon he reached the former tennis player by phone to personally apologize for the mistaken detainment.
NYPD said in a statement that the surveillance video had been provided to Blake's attorney and that the internal investigation is ongoing.
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