NYPD officer accused of using pepper spray on handcuffed man

An NYPD officer accused of repeatedly blasting a man with pepper spray while he was handcuffed and lying on the ground pleaded not guilty to a criminal charge of official misconduct in New York Supreme Criminal Court Wednesday.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office said surveillance footage shows Officer Philip Fioranelli straddling Aqil Alshimary as he lay cuffed on the ground, pulling back Alshimary’s hood and spewing him with pepper spray at least six times. After one spray, according to court papers, the officer rubbed the chemicals into Alshimary’s face with his hands.

Neither the officer’s attorney nor the Police Benevolent Association responded to requests for comment Wednesday.

The incident happened May 18 when parking garage employees called police, saying that Alshimary, a customer, was acting erratically, prosecutors said. They said Fioranelli told Alshimary to leave. Alshimary then kicked an electric bike toward the officer, causing him to fall and scrape his arm, officials said.

Then, prosecutors said, Fioranelli pulled out his gun, aimed it at Alshimary and told him to get on the ground. Alshimary immediately raised his hands above his head and got on the ground, according to court records.

The DA’s office said Fioranelli re-holstered his firearm, sat on the man’s back, cuffed him and began to spray him at close range while waiting for back-up.

At one point, according to prosecutors, Fioranelli accidentally rubbed the chemicals into his own eyes and put the canister back in its holster. But a couple of minutes later, they said, the officer sprayed it again directly into Alshimary’s face.

NYPD policy instructs officers not to use pepper spray against people who passively resist — a term the department defines as “minimum physical action to prevent a member from performing their lawful duty.” In this case, prosecutors said, Alshimary wasn’t resisting after Fioranelli aimed his gun at him.

The patrol guide also advises officers not to rub or touch the skin of someone who has been sprayed.

The NYPD said Fioranelli has been suspended without pay. Department records show he was hired in 2004 and has faced four civilian complaints.

Investigators didn’t find that he violated NYPD policy in most cases, but he received extra instruction after they determined that he abused his authority when he stopped someone in 2008. He has also received more than two-dozen awards over the years, according to his officer profile on the NYPD’s website.

Fioranelli’s indictment follows a string of recent criminal cases against police officers Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has prosecuted in recent months. In July, a former Staten Island officer pleaded guilty to beating a man in a holding cell and another officer was charged with assault for hitting a man in the face at an Apple store. In August, the NYPD inspector who led former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s security detail pleaded guilty to obstructing an investigation into the unit.