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Excessive Force Claims Prompt Lawsuit Against White Plains, PD

A 72-year-old man is attempting to sue the city of White Plains and police department, claiming that officers used excessive force during an attempted arrest last year.

White Plains Police Department headquarters

White Plains Police Department headquarters

Photo Credit: Jon Craig

Charles Pateman is suing the city and its police department after he allegedly attempted to help break up a fight between his fiancee and her daughter last January, but found himself in handcuffs instead.

According to multiple reports, police were called to Pateman’s fiancee’s apartment building on Barker Avenue in January last year, and when Pateman arrived to help diffuse the situation, he was not permitted to go upstairs and assist.

In a video released this week, Pateman can be seen getting into a verbal altercation with officers inside the White Plains apartment building before later being escorted into a squad car while in handcuffs.

Pateman can be heard saying “I can hardly hold my wrists,” in the video while continuing to argue with arresting officers. Video taken at the White Plains Police Department following his arrest reportedly showed him to have bloodied wrists.

Pateman is reportedly seeking $3 million in damages from the lawsuit.

In a statement, White Plains officials declined to comment on the incident.

“In matters of litigation it is our policy to not comment while litigation is pending,” Karen Pasquale, a senior advisor to the mayor, said in a statement. “We have not yet received the papers in the lawsuit, but we are aware of the case and intend to vigorously defend it in court."

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