Thursday, March 28, 2024

Cop Who Roughed Up James Blake Now Suing Him for Defamation

James Blake attends the 17th Annual USTA Foundation Opening Night Gala at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28, 2017 in the Queens borough of New York City.
James Blake attends the 17th Annual USTA Foundation Opening Night Gala at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28, 2017 in the Queens borough of New York City.

*The New York police officer who slammed retired tennis star James Blake to the ground in a case of mistaken identity is now suing Blake, the NYPD and the city over claims he’s been unfairly labeled as a racist, corrupt cop, reports the New York Daily News.

In a defamation lawsuit filed Monday in federal court, James Frascatore said he “has been cast as a racist and a goon” after violently taking Blake down by mistake in front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in 2015.

Frascatore says the tennis star essentially labeled him a racist in the foreword of his book, “Ways of Grace,” and as part of his book publicity tour.

He’s also suing the Civilian Complaint Review Board, its former executive director, Tracy Catapano-Fox, and HarperCollins, which is publishing Blake’s book.

“We have a situation where James Blake, the police department, the mayor and the activist community have defined the narrative over the past two years,” Frascatore’s lawyer, Peter Brill said.

“Mr. Blake is transitioning from claiming this was excessive force to claiming that officer Frascatore is a racist — coincidentally, around the same time he’s trying to sell his book.”

James Frascatore
James Frascatore

Frascatore awaits the results of a departmental trial, and faces a loss of vacation days for abuse of force in taking down Blake — who he thought was a suspect in a credit card scheme involving an online concierge service.

“He used violence first,” Civilian Complaint Review Board prosecutor Jonathan Fogel said at Frascatore’s departmental trial last week. “(Frascatore) responded with brutal unprovoked violence. He used no words or warning, slamming him to the ground like a linebacker in NFL football.”

Frascatore is also accusing the CCRB and Fox of releasing his disciplinary history “illegally” to attorneys representing clients who had complaints against him, leading to that record being reported in a WNYC radio broadcast.

And he accuses the NYPD of not releasing the full video of the takedown, which includes Blake shaking his hand moments later.

Frascatore remains on modified duty.

 

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