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Police arrest 15 on Merrick Blvd.

By Tien-Shun Lee

With cuts and bruises on their arms and heads, six friends told members of the Laurelton community Saturday about being slammed on the ground, handcuffed, kicked, maced and arrested by police on June 11 for no apparent reason.

The community gathered at the African American Benevolent Society at 220-13 Merrick Blvd. for an emergency meeting organized by Councilman James Sanders Jr. (D-Laurelton) to address the alleged police brutality.

“I plan on investigating this matter and finding where truth lies,” said Sanders. “I'm extremely outraged by what I've heard, and I'm starting to smell a cover-up in the making.”

Sgt. Mike Wysokowski, a representative of the Police Department, said the incident was being investigated by the NYPD's Department of Internal Affairs.

“I don't know what happened in this particular incident and I won't know until the investigation is complete,” said Wysokowski.

A police source said one person who had been arrested the same night in the same area during a sweep was questioned in connection with the murder of three family members last week in Cambria Heights. But it was not known whether this was the same police operation or whether the person had been released.

According to Cherelle Still, 25, of Springfield Gardens, the incident started at around 9:15 p.m. on June 11 when several policemen came to a house near the intersection of 220th Street and Merrick Boulevard, where about 15 friends had assembled to celebrate the 26th birthday of Still's boyfriend, Marcus Pratt, of Laurelton.

Police told the group to break up, and the group of friends, some of whom had been drinking alcohol, began heading down Merrick Boulevard, said Still. At the corner of 220th Street and Merrick Boulevard, a man who was not part of the group began vomiting in the street in front of a car wash. Some members of the group began taking pictures of the man.

Then all of a sudden police began “coming out of nowhere,” Still said.

“The officers showed up, gave no reason why they were there,” Still said. “An officer slammed me into a wall, grabbed my arms, yanked them behind my back and asked did I like that.”

Other members of the group said they were kicked, punched and maced even though they did not resist arrest.

“They were dragging me, punching me, kicking me,” said Pratt, who displayed cuts on his elbows and bumps on his forehead. “Seven officers came at me at the same time.”

Pratt later went to Mary Immaculate Hospital to be treated for his injuries.

Alex Maxwell, 25, of Laurelton, said he was sprayed with mace after he was on the ground and handcuffed.

“I asked the officer if I could have some water for my eye, and he said he would urinate in my eye,” said Maxwell.

Maxwell said the officer later took his car keys out of his pocket and searched his car.

“There were at least two dozen (police) vehicles there,” said Pamela Browne, a Laurelton resident who witnessed the incident after getting off the Q5 bus, which was cut off by police cars. “I saw people's faces slammed into the ground. I saw six cops piled on top of one guy. No one was resisting or fighting back.”

Browne said she called 911 and told the operator that there was a police riot going on. She then took down the license plate numbers of 21 of the police vehicles.

A “good amount” of other people on the Q5 bus also witnessed the incident while the they were stopped for about two to three minutes at the corner of Merrick Boulevard and 220th Street, said Browne.

Vashonda Edwards, 29, of Laurelton, who is about two months pregnant, said she was shoved onto the ground and kneed in the back even after she repeatedly told officers that she expecting a baby.

The group of 11 men and four women was taken in a police van to the 105th Precinct, where they were held from 10 p.m. to about 10 a.m. Sunday morning, said Still.

In the morning, each member of the group was questioned one-on-one by police, who asked if they knew certain individuals, said Anthony Preddie, 25, or Laurelton. Some members of the group were asked if they knew anything about the triple homicide that took place in Cambria Heights on June 9.

Police would not comment on whether or not the arrests were connected with the Cambria Heights triple homicide.

After being released from the 105th Precinct, the group was taken to Queens Central Booking in Kew Gardens, where they were charged with disorderly conduct at around 7 p.m., said Pratt.

Sanders said several people came into his office on June 12, making allegations of police brutality. The councilman has formed an ad-hoc committee made up of community members, including district leader James Blake, to investigate the incident.

“This is not anti-police. This is pro-justice,” said Sanders. “My office has a good relationship with the police department.”

Pratt said he and his friends often have problems with police in the streets giving them tickets and asking them what they are doing.

“I'm afraid to walk to the store sometimes,” he said.

Pratt added that his 26th birthday is one he will never forget.

“I had to spend my birthday in the precinct and all of this is for what?” he said.

Reach reporter Tien-Shun Lee by email at Timesledger@aol.com, or call 718-229-0300, ext. 155.