NYPD investigates officers after video shows man beaten in mistaken drug arrest
Video of NYPD officers punching and kicking a man in a Brooklyn wine shop collided with police’s later admission that he was not the drug suspect.
Video from BK Wine Depot in Boerum Hill showed NYPD officers tackling, punching and kicking a man on the floor amid shattered wine bottles, even as the department later said he was not the suspect tied to the undercover drug buy.
The confrontation happened Tuesday, April 14, 2026, at the liquor store on Hoyt and Baltic streets during what police described as a planned and supervised undercover operation aimed at street-level crack sales. Officers said one undercover officer bought crack cocaine from one person, then another man was approached because he matched the description of a suspected associate. Police later determined that man had not been involved in the drug deal.
The man in the video was identified by CBS News New York as Timothy L. Brown, a home health aide and security guard who said he had just gotten off work and stopped in to buy wine. He told reporters, “I just thank God that I’m alive.” Brown said officers confronted him inside the store while bystanders shouted for them to stop. The footage showed bottles breaking during the struggle as the man was pinned down on the floor.
Brown was initially given a desk appearance ticket and charged with resisting arrest, but Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the charge would be dropped. Police also said Brown was not charged with any drug offense. Advocates with Black Lives Matter Greater New York said the encounter left Brown with cuts and a broken nose.
The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau opened an internal investigation, and the officers involved were placed on modified duty with their guns and shields removed. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the conduct “extremely disturbing and unacceptable,” while Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the video “deeply disturbing” and said the department understood community concern.
The case quickly drew condemnation from U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, State Sen. Andrew Gounardes and City Councilmember Shahana Hanif, adding to a long-running fight over NYPD use-of-force rules and how quickly mistaken-identity stops can spiral into violent arrests. It also sharpened a familiar accountability question in New York policing: when video conflicts with the explanation given at the scene, whether internal discipline will match the force the public saw on camera.
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